-

The Tren*d of Social Movements i n America:

Professionalization and
Resource M,obilization
JOHND. M C CARTHY
Vanderbilt University

MAYER N. ZALD
Vatidei-brlt University

1973 General Learning

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A A n R l c m sociologists have been intrigued with the phenomena

of social movements. They have studied and analyzed movements
ranging'from those on the left wing aimed at overturning the social
order to those on the right wing aimed at restoring an earlier order.
But they have not neglected moderate ~novementswith ameliorative
goals or movements .with no apparent political goals or implications
(e.g., movements related to individual deviance such as alcoholism
or to a 'belief in the end of the,avorld). To understand the rise and
fall of all of these movements-and their related movement organizations, which normally are the unit of analysis-sociologists have
focused upon members. Leites and Wolf [1970] call this a "hearts
and minds of the people" approach, which assigns primary.importance. .
to the state of consciousness of members and potential melnbers. The
development of group consciousness, the relation of a group's life situa-.
tion to the formation of ideology and to social action have been primary
concerns of this study and analysis.
We stress a different approach. Our "resource ~nobilization"
approach emphasizes the resources, beyond membership consciousness and manpower, that may become available to potential movements. These resources support the growth and vitality of movements
and mbvelnent organizations. This view does not necessarily deny the
existence of grievances. It stresses the structural conditions that
facilitate the expression of grievances.
In the past, the resource mobilization approach has bee.n characteristic of American right-wing political analysis. Conservatives, wishing to deny the validity of left radical and refonn movements, have
str&sed the importance of "outside" resources. Right-wing analysts.
deemphasize felt grievances as the motor of social movements; they
focus on concepts like "outside agitators" and "the camniunist conspiracy,'' including especially the charge of outside funding that creates
the appearance of widespread grievances. .

'

We feel this view contains more than a kernel of .

validity, though \Ire reject much of this analysis. Serious
analysis of social movements must, for instance, recog-.
riize the similarity of the concepts of "outside agitator"
and "comlnilnity organizer."
\Ye 1;ave'corne to this view after realizing tliat few
American social moven!ent organizations. have resembled the "classical" soci,ological model. The picture of
niove~hentscomposed of aggrieved.individua1s banding
together to fight for their due seems to 11s.seriously
inadequate. W e do .not claim tliat resource n~obiliia-.
tion should replace the concerns of the "heal-ts and
approacll. Neither analytic approach is
minds"
.
.
adequate by itself; we must understand 110th the aggrieved group and the process of I-esourcemobiliz.I t'1011.
-In response to the "hearts ancl minds" bias of previous
work, we stress resource n~obilizationin this analysis. ' .
Some may lnisiake our emphasis on the 'material .
bases'of
current social movements for hostility to tlie
.
.
aims of the movements. This is not so. 011s discussion
concen!s the conditions that affect a movement's
pot&ltial for success, and these are.as ilnportant to
movement leaders and supporters as they are to.socia1
scientists.
'

'

Introduction
,

Although our approach focuses up011 tlie reso<irces

available to social -movements, we must explore the
major alternative explanation for the recent hrrst of
social movement activity, the alleged increase in rates
of socio-political participation. In the 1960s, according
to many scl~olarsancl social critics, the American population greatly expanded its rate, of participation in sociopolitical activities and will continue to do so. For example, in'The Ptrblic Interest, Daniel Bell and Virginia
Held note ". . . that theie is more participation than
ever before in American society, particularly in the
large urban centers such as New York, and more opportunity for.the active interested person to express his
personal and ~~olitical
doncems" [1969, p. 1421. \.\'it11
respect to future prospects, James Q. M1ilson writes,
". . . in fact participatory democracy has all along been
the political style (if not the slogan) of the: American
middle and' upper class. It will become a more widespread style as more persons enter into these classes"
[1968, p. 1201.
A participatory interpretation of events of the 1960s
must inevitably raise a number of questions. The simplest to ask and possibly the niost difficult to answer

is \vhetlier or not the puq)orted upsilrge in sociopolitical particil~ation.is real. Reniember, De

Toque\~ille, Martinenu, and other ol~se~-vers
of an
earlier clay were struck 11y the quantity of such participation in American society. I-Ins there been an increase
in the absolute amount of such participation2
There are, of course, numerous avenues for expressing socio-political' concerns.. One can throw a bomb
or vote, join a social movement organization or write
a letter to the local newspaper or to a congressman;
one can argue yith friends.and neighbors or comnlit
a major part of income to worthy causes; one can attend
e
or
endless meetings of special l ~ u ~ i ) o sorganiaations
send a campaign c6ntril)iltion to a candidate of olie's
choice; olie can choose a life career t1iat.exp1-essesthese
concerns or advise one's cliilclren to do so. These many
ways.of expressing conceril valy in their costs and con- .
seciuences. Has the likelihood of action along each of
tliese avenues increased? Or have obse~-vers
generalized kom:tll& flamboyant 'iiliunifestations? Hive
the rates ofriots, pickets, and marches i~icreasedas compared to lSSO? 1920? If so, are tliese, iates accurate
indicators of trends in more traditionil activities? If
only certain forms'of participation are increasing, while
others remain stable or decline, what are the structural
causes of the apparcnt independent variation?
On a more general and analytic level, what implications do changes in participation have concer~iing.tIie
assumptions and logic of accepted theories of social
movements? Since it has been coin~nonfor sociolo$cal
theories to define social mqvements in terms of participation, questions about rates of participation and relevant causative factors are tied to questions about the
future of social movements. Social movements are vol.untary collectivities that people ~11p110rtin order to
effect changes in society. using the broadest and most
inclusive definition, .a social movement includes all
who in any form support the general ideas of the movement. Social movements contain social movement
organizations, the carrier organizations tl~at'consciously
attempt to coordinate and mobilize supporters. In the
traditional view, social movements are clepetzdent upon
their participatiiig tnembers.
Social move~nentsrange from those that are radical
and all-embracing, aimed at totally changing the structure of society, to specifically focused reform attempts.
They encompass idea movernerits aimed at changing
the world by changing individual thought and mdvements tied to specific ideologies and tactics. At the
level of social movement organizations they include in
some degree radical a i d clandestine terrorist groups,
retreatist sects that revalue the'world, refom'-oriented
political action groups, and interest groups aimed at
'

'

The Trend of Social Allooe~ile~lts

in Atr~ericcl:
explained by the advent of social movement 01-ganimclianging a law or policy to benefit its members.' Destions unlike those treated I)), tlie traditional model. Our
pite. this variety, the standard sociological view has
view s'u1,stantially cliallenges tlie usual assuml~tions'
l>een that social mov&ment organizations are depenal;out participation and social movements in America.
dent upon their members for movement operat'Ion.
Tlie fi~nctionsl~istoricallysetved I,y a social m o v e ~ n e ~ i t
kIem11ers provide all of tlie resources for the inframe~nbel-shipbase have been, we \till argue, increasstructure of social movethents. Organizations depend
ingly taken over by. paicl functionaries, by the
itpo;i members fbr money, work (titne and, energy),
"bureaucratization of social cliscontdnt," by mass prosacrifice (death or p~json),and leaders. And they are
motion campaigns, by fill]-timeemployees, whose proalso dependent upon tlieii &embers to demonstrate
fessional careers are defined in teims of social nioveto elites that society must cliange to accommodate the
ment, l~articil~ation,
I)y pliilant1i1-opic foundations, and. .
movement. The "resource. mobilization" approach
leads us to raise two related questions here: First, have . by government itself. Moreover an affluent society
makes it possible for l~eopledevoted to radical change
American social movement organizations been -as typi.and revolution to eke out living while pursuing their
cally dependent upon memhers as tlie "hearts ancl
values. Modern society easily supports a large cadre .
minds of the people" a p l ~ o a c hsuggests? Second, clo
of revolutionaries. For revo1untiona1-y and nonrevotlie ebbs and floivs of ,social ~ ~ o v e m e organi7~t;onal
nt
lutionary alike, modern American society makes
activity over time directly reflect changing rates of
it easy to pursue, one's values in social movements. .
socio-political participation within the population?
In the classical view member participation is tiecl
The essay is divided into fiiie p a ~ t s .First, we weigh
to grievances and cleprivati?n. But grievances ought
evidence for the claim that participation has in fact
genercjlly inciensed. Second, we describe changes in
to be inversely related to per capita income. If
affluence leads to grievance satiation (the satisfaction
factors related to socio-politic:$ participationof wants), would not the classical tradition of social
affluence, leisure, and changes in discretionary
movement analysis predict tlie decline of participation,
time. In the third part we turn to changes at the instituancl hence social moven~ents,in a society whose per
tional level, the funding pattenis of for~ndationsant1
churches and changes in participatory careers. Tlie
capita income has enormously increased since World
War II? Even if one does not accept such a crude
iniplications of these trends for a theory of social movements are addressed in tlie fourth part. At this point
materialistic assrtmption ahout the motivatiop to parwe counterpoise the traditional or classical model of
ticipate in social mo\iements, in predicting trends
should one not consider the clianging costs to.particisocial move~nents and a type of social 1nuS6ment
pate, .as well as the drives and benefits presi~medto
organization, the professional movement organization,
arise fi-om participation?
that is beconling more preGalent. 111tlie last part we
Finally, wliat can be saicl of the-long-range trends?
conclude with a discussion of the implications of social
re\~olit- trends for tlie f i ~ t i ~ of,social
Can wliat has been termed the "l~articipato~y
re
movements in America.
tion" be rev&rsed by either I~istoricalforces or planned
\Ye also. discuss whether the rate of social movements
.
intervention? Does America in the 1960s ancl 1970s
can be manipulated by authorities and elites.
historical periocl where
represent a relatively i~nicli~e
. . Much .of our nrgi~ment will be inferential and
civil rights,
a confluence of specific issues-\'ietnam,
speculative; at crucial points we must rely upon data
women's liberation, environmental polliltion-has galand indicators that are only loosely connected with the
vanized and mobilized the population for a short historconcepts and l~roblemswe are examining: At times we
are forced to rely on hearsay evidence. \VIiatever the
ical moment? Or have structural changes made grievance mobilization more likely today than in earlier
particular weaknesses, however, we believe that our
general interpretation is consistent with the available
'~~eriods?
Tlie view we will develop, speculatively and at some
evidence and suggests serious rethinking df traditional
-length, suggests that the rates of participation for many
modes of explanation. .
.
for~nsof socio-political involvement do vary somewhat
indelILndently in modern America. This is partially

~ v e r ~ & ae Participant?

1: As an aside it is worth noting th'nt olitic.11 scientists

use the phrase "interest groeps" and socioYogist 'write about
social mo\.enlent orgnizations" without acknowledgin
their overlapping functions and processes. See Lowi [19717
for a recent attempt to combine these previously separate
traditions of analysis.

Has there in fact b e e ~ ia participatory revolution?

As we began our study we posed the following question
to ourselves and colleagues. "If the Vietnam War

'

John D. h f c Carthy.
ended -nest month and racial equality so~iiehow
appeared on the scene, \vould tlie present level of
social activism decline?" T h e normal response was an
i.mphatic "No!" o r "Not very m i ~ c h . "First of all, many
otiiel- issues seem to b e waiting in the wings for a
environment issue, popuchance at center stage-t!le
lation gro\vth, rural l i o v e ~ t y ?women's lib, and tlie
starving children of Pakistan. Sucli issues seem more
numerous today. Why so many issues today as compared to yesterday?
Rather than. arguing the alteration of actual circumstances as tlie cause of tlie multiplication of issues, one
might argue that the high rate of issue foniiation will
co'ntinue becarlse l~e.ol~le
a r e more \\lilling to l~r;rticipate
in social movements based upon such sentiments. A
larger p r o p o ~ t i o nof the population may b e willing to
particillate, because American society has 1;ecome
increasingly middle-class (as in tlie arguniient by Wilson above). Numerous stitdies show that the middle
~
and politi-.
class- participates in v o l u n t a ~organizations
cal activities ~iiore.than t h e working class, although
only tiny minorities at every level can be called "activists" [Hausknecht 19621. Educational attainment
a n d economic position botli correlate positively with
socio-political participation; therefore, the more
America b e c o ~ n e sa ~iiiddle-class society, tlie higher
the societal rate of .participation in socio-political concerns.
First, w e must c o ~ i c e d ethat there is impressive consistency in the relationship between education and
.
8
political participation.
Perhal~sthe siirest single predictor of politicill involvement is n11ml1erof years of formal education. There are
apathetic college graduates ancl Iligllly involved people of
\fery.low ed~~cational
level b r ~ ttlie overall relationship of
education ant1 political interest is impressi\le. It is impossible to say \\lit11 confidence \vhy it is tl!at formal schooling
makes people more responsive to political stimi~lation.
One may surmise that education tends to widen the scope
ofone's acquaintance \\lit11 political facts, to increase capacity to perceive the ~~ersonal
implications of political events,
or to enlarge one's confidence i n his o\vn al~ilityto act
etTectively .politically. \\'hatever the precise natr~reof the
edr~cationalprocess, it has clear effects on political interest
[Campbell 1962, p. 201.

'

But what of t h e mechanisms through which education produces such profound effects upon political
beha"ior? A si1mnial-p of findings from a' five nation
survey elucidates these niechanisms. Each of these
findings is suplmrted in all of t h e five ~iatiorisof Great
Britain, Gennany, Italy, h~exico,'andtheUnited States.
T h e chapter 'references are from Tlle Cioic Culture
.
[Almond and Verba 1963, p. 380-3811.
(1) The Inore educated person is more aware of the
im11actof -.go:overn~nenton the indiviclual than is the IIerson
of less education (chapter 3);
. ,

(2) The more educatecl irldi\:id;tal is more likely to

report that he follo\vs politics ;md pays attention to election
campaigns than is the indi\~icl~i:~l
of less education (chapter
3):
.
(3),TIie more ecl~~cnted
incliviclr~;~l
11;~sniore politic:il.
inlorm;~tion(chapter 3): .
.. (4) The more educatecl i n d i v i c l ~ ~ ahas
l
opinions on a
\\rider range of political sr~l~jects;
the focus of his attention
to politics is '\\rider (chapter 3):
(5) Tlie more eclucatecl indiviclr~al is more likely to
engage in political discr~ssion(clii~pter4);
,(6) Tlie more eclr~cateclindivic1u;ll feels free to discuss
politics with a wider range of people (cllnpter 4); those
\\.it11 less educntion are more likely to rcport that there
are niany people with whom they avoid such discussions;
(7) ,The more edr~c;~tecl
incliviclr~nlis more likely to consider himsclf cnpnl>leof infl~~encing
tllc governnienl: this
is .reHected 110th it! response to clr~estionson wl~ntone
could clo about an u n j ~ ~ law
s t (cl~apter7) ;~nclin respondents' scores on the suljecti\,e competencc (chapter. 9).
The al~ovelist refers specifically to political orientations,
\vIlich vary the same way in all five nations. In addition,
our evidence shows that:
(6) .The Inore educated intli\~iclr~al
is more likely to I,e
a member-and an active meml~el-ofsome organization
(chai~ter11); and
(9) Tlie more educated inclividi~al i:.-more likely to
espress confidence in his social en\~ironment:to believe
that other people are trushvorthy and Ilell~ful(chapter 10)'.

'

'

~ l t h o u $ l iin all five countries in the Alm~ncl-Verl~a

study, education is related to political participation,
there is some evidence that this relationship is strongest in the United states and .is mediated' through
organizational afiliation. -That is, education leadsi,to
general involvement, leading to political involvement
[Nie, Powell, Gr Prewitt 1969a, 1969b].
Clearly w e would expect an ,increasingly e d ~ l c a t e d
society to be an increasingly participatory one. Tlie
argument is plausible, but infkrential. It recli~ires
demonstrating botli that socio-political participation
has increased ancl that the size of.the highly paiticipating middle class has increased. Then tlie link behveen
.
the two trends must b e demonstrated. Unfortunately;
two o r more surveys with similar questions about
associational participation taken over long periods of
time have not been done. However, .Hyman and
Wright have published one article comparing 1955 and
1962 survey data based upon similar national sarnples
and closely similar question ord ding.^ A sillnmary of
their evidence is. reported in table 1. Although tlie
seven-year period resulted in some upward shift, still
more than 50 percent reported no memberships. From
table 1 and other analysis H y ~ n a narid Wright reach
t h e following major conclusions:
2. 1955: "Do you happen to beloltg to any groups or
or anibtions in the co~nnlunityhere?. Which ones? Any
otkers?" 1962: "Do vou belone to anv c r o u ~ or
~ sorealizations
here in the community?.\\rhch o n i s r ~ n yothers?"

--

,.

The Tre~ldof Social Aloue~nentsi l l A~~lericcl:

Professionali;atio,z atld Resorirce ~\Iol2ili:.atiot1

'

( I ) \ioli~~~tar).
association membership is not characteristic of the majority of Americans (a finding originally from
<lat;lin the 1950s: now confirmed 11y data from the 1960s).
(2) A relatively small percentage of Americans belongs to
two or more volunta~-\'associations (another fincling h o ~ n
the earlier stl~cly,confir~nedIjy tlie ne\v data). (3) There
\\,:is a small 11ut notc\\~orthyincrease .in \,olunta~yassociation~rneml~crsl~ips
I~etweentlie mid-.I95Os and the early
1960s. (4) The trencl to\vard Inore ~neml,ershipi r i ;lssocintions was not caused l ~ ythe cohort who came of age during
the period from 1955-1962, tlie t\vo poi~itsin the str~cly.
,
(5) klembership is directly related to c u r r e ~ ~sociot
econdmic position, as.lneasurec1 by a variety of. indicators
.(a relationshi'p estal;lished in the earlier study, confirmed
1111 data from the 1960s). (6) The trend toward increase
ir; associatio~ialme~nbershipsis not confined to the more
~ t all along
\\?ell-'to-do.strata of tlie population, b ~ occurs
tlie line and especially among those of poorer economic
means. (7) Current economic situation appears to have
Inore effect !ipon men~ljerslii~,
than does otie's station of
origin. (8) The tre~~d'towarcl
increased memliership ;q>l~lies
to 110th Negro and \\'liite ntlults but is somewhat more'
kviclent among the fbrmei. thereby tending to redlice previous s l ~ l ~ g r oclill'ere~~ces
~~~>
i n meml~ersliip. I.lo\vever,
these findings are most tentative because of the small
numl~erof Negro respondents found in each sample
[I-Iyman & \\'right 1971, pp. 205-61.

trend toward higher rates of participatio~i.In the 1920s

and 1930s, of course, much of tlie increase is usually
attributed to an increase in voting I>y n70men. T h e offyear .electio~is~sho\v
a 'similar path of increasing rates
of participation, 10 to 20 percent belii~ldthe presiclcntial years. From our point of view the most interesting
aspect of these data is tlie continuit?( of,rates. In particular t h e voting rates of tlie 1960s are ,close (within
2 - 4 percentage points) to those of the 1950s. Furtliermore, t h e rate of voting in tlie 196s election was the
lowest of t h e decade. No participatory revolution here.
Even i n the 1960s tlie absolute rate of voting turnout
just began to reach tlie level of turnout in most national
elections in Europe,3 although Americans have been
more likely to use informal means (such as letter writing a n d joining organizations) to influence politibs.

Table 2 . Voter.9 a s perce~~tageof ootit~g-crgepopr~lat ion: Presirlerz tic11and ~~ff-!~ec~rHortse of Rcl~reset~tcltioes electio~~.s,
by.decntlc, since 1920.
Presiclentia! Elections

Table 1 . Percent belonging to oolroltary associatiot~by

Fnttlil~jlt~cott~e:I
-$2,000
2,000-2,999
3,000-3,999
4,0004,999
5,000-7,499"
7,000 or

no re"
..

Total

195.5
2

76% 17% 7%
71%17%1210
71% 18% 11%
65% 21% 14%
5 i % 22% 21%
.

Year of
Election

% Range

I-louse of IZepresentntives
-

Year of
Electio~~

% Range

385
304
379
450
,524

48% 22% '30% 328

64% 20% 16% 2379"

.
a ~ o t a Nl differs fro111 marginal N because of rlnkno\vns. 111.1962 the .break point on this category was above and below
8,000.
SOURCE:Iltrl~crtI-lyman a l ~ tCllilrles
l
R. \\'right, "Trends in \ ' d u n tan Association Xlen~l)crshipsof Ame~ic:~nAdults." Aittericu~~
Sociologicc~lHet;iet~;,1971, 3:191-206.

\Ye return to aspects of the Hyman ancl \Yriglit

analysis later. But let us turn to trends in specific types
of social participation. T h e r e are
sources of data
that measure trends in specific types of ~lartici~lation;
. extensive time series data on voting rates have been
compiletl, and for a recent 16-year period we have data
on church attendance, union i~articipation,and 11articipation in political activity.
Table 2 presents t h e average percentage of voting'age population voting in presidential elections and i n .
.
off- ear elections for U.S. re~~resenta'tives,
by decades.
Clearly, t h e half-century from 1920 to 1968 shows a

a 6 1 . is~ tlie 1968 fig~~re.

Source: B~treu~r
of the CE~ISIIS
1970, 1). 368.

l-Iowever, these data d o not directly indicate tlie

effects of an enlarged lniddle class. Fbr that evidence
\ve turn to t h e relation of socio-economic status and
"r&ported" voting in the 1952-56 period. and tlie 196s
period collected by tlie University of'Michigan Survey
kesearch Center.
O n e slior~ld r e m e m l ~ e rthat more people usually
report lla\,ing voted than actllally
Also,
data are not age standardizecl,
kllow

g,,p

aged 21-25, dthougl,

educated, tends to
less becallre of illobility and
factors ~
~

3 supports t h e relationsliil> that has consistdntly

berween

and

actibn; tile

more t h e education, the more likely the vote. T h e dif3. Hurl~a~n

[1965j. For a review of the 'factors i~ivolved
the U-shnlEd cunre of voting participation froln the l&Os
until 1960.

ill

~14ayerN . Znld

'

Table 4. Nntiot~ciltretlcls it1 lloliticcll a t ~ socia/

d
itlrioloemerit: 1952-1 968 a.

ferences behveen tlie two time periods within each

educational category are minor escept for the group
of respondents \vho have had some college, where a
substantial decline in the reported voting rate is evident. O n tlie other hand, it.can .be obsen~eclthat tlie
relative.size of t h e more highly educated groups has
increased over this time period. This accounts fbr the
slidit i?lcrease in total reported voting b e t ~ z e e nthe
hvo time periods,, lending some support to a et~lborrrgeoisetnent argument for.increasipg national rates of
participation. T h e argument is weakened, ho\vever, by
t h e decline in'the rate of reported voting in t h e "some
college" category.

Questions
"Do you belong to any
lmlitical clubsor
organizations?
"Did you give any money
or b ~ tickets
~ y or anything ,
to help the campaign for .
one of the ~~al-ties
or
candidates?"
"Did you go to any
Political ~neetings,
rallies, dinliers, or things
like that?"
"Did you \\?eara campaign
l~utton'.o.rp i ~ ta campaign
sticker on your car?"
"Docs anyone in this
household belong to a
labor r~nion?"
"\\'auld yo11 say you go
to church regi~larly,
often, seldo~n,never?"

T n b l e 3 . Edrrcotion cutd reported ooting, 1952-1968.

19.5256 a
% of

Edt'cation

1 9 6 ~' ~
%

% of

Sni,zple Voting

S(~lt~/)lc
Voting

A'

Less than
8
8
%11

635
47s
64s

19.6% 57.2% 149

14.8% 63.6% 140
20.0% 68.8% 272

10.7% 53.0%
10.1% 65.7%
19.6% 69.1%

High School
Gratl~~atc 905 26.0% 82.0% 433 31.2%
Some.College 322 10.0% 8.8%. 206 . 14.8%
College
Gratluate
247 7.6% 90.7% 190 13.7%
Totals
3,235 100.0% 73.1% 1,390 100.0%
'

1956'

2%

3%

4%

3%

4%

0%

10%

9%

7%

7%

9%

9%

168

15%

14%

27%

24%

2.5%

60%

62.%
'

1 9 ~ 4 "1 9 6 ~ ~
'

'

.52Y0

All of these figures a l l 1)nsctl rlpon Survey I~esearcl~

Center

l~ost-electio~n.
sllr\.ey S ; I I I ~ ~ > I ~ SU~tless
,
otl~clw,isctlesi&!n;~tctl
tlne pcreentiige entry relers to thc proportion of the.totiil s:l~nple
answering f i r m a t i v c l p .
I,
The 1852 ligrlres are froni Camphell..et al., 1964.
; ._
nation;il

83.8%
79.1%
69.5%
75,910

The 1956, 1964, and 1966 figures are I,asctl upon d;ita lnade availnble I)y tlne Si~n~ey
Research Center. University of hlichigiun.

a ~ l i e s figures
e
are approximate and :Ire a recciml)t~tation
of figures
presented in Table 15-1 of The Antericnt~Voter [Campbell, Converse, Miller and Stokes 196-11..The authors present only 1952 and
1956 combined.
I, These figures are I,ised Upon the 1966 Sr~neyResearch Center
Post-Election Sur\,ey.

O n e I ~ c ofl data
~ does give us comparable evitlence
conceiming several types of voluntary particil2ation'
aside from voting. From 1952 on, t h e Survey Research
C e n t e r has asked cluestions about cl~urcliparticipation,
union participation,'and political participation. Table
4 presents this infomiation for four points.in time. T h e
respolises to these cluestions over time d o not indicate
increasing socio-pblitical participation. Electoral participation outside ofvdting has not increased. Religious
rrzeitlparticipation has slio~vna decline and labor rrr~ior~
bership h a s renmir~ed stable. These data, thougll
limited in time span, certainly d o not i~?dicatea massive
increase in social and political involvement.

1552''

nnese percentages refer to tliose \\?IIO ans\vel.ed cither "reg~tl:rrly.'

"often."

or

It could b e argued that we Iiave missed the whole

point of the participatory revolution, for the revolution
is outside regiilar electoral. lioliticd channels. Yet
tliese data d o !)ear on one interl~retationof that supposed revolution: its relation'to'kn enlarged micldle
~ l a s ' s .At
~ the very least tliese data indicate no large
.

4. Soi)le readers will insist that the real p:u-tici~atonl

revolt~tionis ~nissedhecause itlias occurred ;iinonp tlle\,l;r~s
and the poor. \\'bile the civil rights rnoverne!~t efflorescetl
in the 1960s, it is not at all clear that Negro social participation changed that miich. Myths of non-participation to the
c~ntrarv,several str~dieshave sliown tliilt at each class lcvel
I~lacksbelong to associations as inucli or itrorc than whites .
of the sanie inc~me-educationgroi~p.See Orum 119663 for
a review of this literature.
Xloreover, ,a study of the OfFice of E c o ~ i o m i c O ~ ~ ~ m T t ~ ~ ~ i i t y
Commi~nityAction Agencies (cA.4'~)in several large cities
..
concli~desthat "CAA s seem unable to produce or create
participation where it doesn't esist ancl unal~lcto increase
it very mucli where it already does exist" [Vanecko 19691.

and Resotircd Alol?'ilizatioi~

The Trend of Social Alooe~i~ents
it] America: Professionalizatio~~
. .
collar workers, those inhigher status occupations work
increase in particil~atioi in general, nor gieater particilonger lio!lrs than t1iose.in lower status occupations.
pation by the broadly defined ~nidclleclass. If nonelectoral participation has been d ~ a ~ ~ ~ c i t iincreasc c ~ l l ~ A larger propoltion of tlie incumbents.of professiolial
and managerial occupations than of clerical and sales
ing, we believe it ouglit to be partially reflected in
occupations work Inore than 49 hours a week. Indeed,
electoral and voluntary association .pa~ticipation,for
managers ancl officials in 1965 comprised 8.6 percent
numerous studies have shown them to be positively
.
related [see klilbrath 19651. So our initial answer to
of the firll-time workers I)i1t:'lS.2 percent of those
working niore than forty-nine liours a week [Carter
the cluestion of a palticipatory increase seems to be
19701. This is a complicated matter, and our extunple, .
negative-some change, not much. But the appeartlio~ugliit captures t1ie.trend;esaggerates tlie picture.
ances leading 11s and otlier observers to svcli. a view
remain. To be sure, tliese data exclude, to a large . But the trend from 1948 to 1965 reflects an increasing
estent, tlie student popr~lation. But are tlle appearproportion of tlie labor force working over 49 hours
ances based exclusively upon tlle behavior of the stua week, from 13 per cent to 20 per cent. Since profesdent group? \Ve think not, tllougli student participasionals and nianngers intrinsically tend to \value work
tion is important. In the follo\ving section we attempt
more highly than laboyers and clerks, it .is precisely
class, it seems, tliat is 1nol-e likely
to account f o r the appearances tliat are not reflected
the i~~~~>er-rnicIdle
in tliese data.
t o o p t for work over leisnre, given the choice.
Two other trends blunt the implications of a leisure
time argument for organizational participation-the
labor force palticipation of women and tlie "costs of
Components of Participation: Social Structure and
consumption." By now it is well known that tliere has
Individual Opportunities
been a massive increase in the lal~or-forceparticipation
of
women. Each decade since. 1900 has found an
The usual approacli to explaining tlie higher rate of
inkreasing
proportion of women in the labor force. Thc
middle-class participation in organizations and politics
trend is especially strong among women over tlii~tyis through cognition ancl motivation. On the one hand,
five [\Valdman 1967, 1). 321. A likely consecllrence is
edilcation leads to greater awareness of political events
that both men and women must use avai1al)le non-worli'
ancl a greater awareness of the discrepancy between
time for "senlice-time" hor~seliold and pliysiological
the obsen~ecl'worlclancl valrles. On tlie otlier hand,
higher status leads to,Iiighe'r self-esteem; high selfmaintenance (e.g. cleaning of homes, care of prissessions). Staffan -B. Linder [.lY70] arg!les I~rieflythat as
esteem leads to a sense of personal efficacy qnd the
utility of participation. These approaches oftell' ignore
income increases, what he-terms "consumption costs"
increase. This thesis suggests another trend affecting
the costs of participation. Palticipation recluires some
re
The sharp increases in
the availability of l e i s ~ ~time.
colnbinatidn of money, leisure or discretionary time,
per capita income have led to an increase in discretionand energy. The uneclual command of such resources
ary income that can 1,e used to purcliase consumer
across tlie class structr~re,\iJe believe, ought to bear
goods. But every new purcliase, beyond the time spent
importantly ilpon participation rates in addition to
making it, requires time for use ancl for service. (Linder
~notivation and cognition. It is necessary, then, to
distingi~isheshetween work, personal \vork, and conexalnine trends in factors related to tinie and money
sumption or leisure.) Increased affluence leads to an
expenditures for such behavior.
incrense in personal work. Since non-work time o n the
average is not increasing (as slio\vn above), tliere are
AfPrreilce and Leisure
increasing dollars competing for availal~lenon-work
One. argument for tlie alleged link between ;in
liours. Furthemlore, as the productivity of work
increases, there is.an increasing pressi~reto increase
enlarged middle class and an increase in participation
utility yield of leisil're time, for there is a strong tenis tliror~glia purported increase in leisure; the increase
dency to balance utility yields in diflerent sectors' of
in leisure provides an opportunity for participation.
r
that high-yield leisure activities
activity. ~ i n d e arglles
But there is good reason to believe that an increase
will substitute for lo\\?-yield ones. Thus motor. boats
in leisure'is mythical, especially alnong those segments
supl>lant row boats, and pllysiological necessities as'sex
of tlie population that are most likely to show high
and eating lose grouncl -in available-time nllocations.
~
rates of socio-political participation. [ \ ~ i l e A s k19611.
First, over tlie last three decades tlie average work
W e would add to Lincler's list of low-yield leisure .
activities participation in social movement orga~izaweek in mani~facturinghas stabilizecl at around 40
tions. There are few 'ways of making tliese activities
hours a week. Second, among white-collar and blue'

'

..

non-work time to-be available for such involvement;

at least in the last.three or four decades. Two points.
need: to be clarified. First, tlie association between
stat~lsand involvement inay well be a fimctibn .of
. the
way in wliicli rneinbership involvement is measured.
Second, tlie fict tliat a smdl segment of tlie middle .
and upper class is in fact lieayily involved in sociall ~ ~ l i t i c a l ~ c o ~ i cise npartly
is
a fiuiction of a ':ladder process" of socio-political involvement.
If the members of tlie middle ancl working classes
do not differ.substantial1y. in tlie amount of time available for participation, their differences in involvement
may be a function of their allocation of money. The
relation between class ancl invol\~ementis normally
demonstrated 1))rdifferences in the ni111iberof organi,
that many . "
zational membersliips. It is ~ r e l lknown.
organizational memberships reciuire nothing more tlian
yearly dues. In l>articular we'know tliat deductions for
charitable and social contributions as a j)roportioi~ of
total income remain relatively constant at each incoiiie level. Higher rates of participation among the.
middle class may result fro~iithe fact: that they have
more money to join organizations.
As par&of a study. of the activities of foundations,
the Treasury Department [U. S. Trensccry Dc~~c~rtrtlent
Report on Priljate Foundntio11.s 1965, p. 751 str~died
various trends in cliarital~legiving, a fo~iiiof social participation closely aligned, we assert, to politic;ll and
social movement funding. This .info~inationreflects
immense increases in absolute dollars of chiritable giving-bequests,
corporate gifts, and gifts of living
individuals-beh~~een 1924 and' 1960. In 1940, for
instance, gifts of living individuals were estimated at
little more tlian one billion dollars, while in 1960the
estimate is close to $10 hillion. Increases in I,ecli~ests
and corporate gifts are large, though not ns dramatic
during tlie same period.
The increase in giving of.living indi\licluals is relatecl
to the gro\vth of personal income and the increase in
tlie percentage of income allocated to. contributions.
From, 1924 to 1962 adjusted gross income increased
' . 650 percent, an advance far surpassing the rate of
Organizational Znvoloentetlt and Social Status .
inflation and reflecting a.massive increase in' Gross
The consistent positive association in American surNational Product per capita. Over tlie period 1 9 2 4
veys between membership involvement and social
1962 there .is also an increase in the percentage of
status is well, known. Yet, our argi~rnentshave led us
adjusted gross income given to charitable organizat o expect, if any change, a decreasing proportion of
tions. From 1924-1962 the ratio of contributions from
the income of living individuals increased by 40 per5. \Vatching television could Ile considered a"'consumpcent. The donor estimate and recipient estimate series,
tion cost"-a $500 investment i n a color television set rt~rrst
which includes corporate and estate contributions,
be utilize'd. If organizational participation is in high-priority
competition for the time allocated to tube gazing, consider
does not increase as dra~iiaticallyas the individual conthe participatory implications of an America with no televitributions ratio.
sion.
Now, with both per capita income and proportion
By increasing the wasteland content of T\', revolutionaries
contributed increasing, we would expect, as well, volcould mobilize more activists from among the bored.

yield greater incli\~idualutility in a given time unit.

Episodically it may be exciting to attend a rally or "sitin," but it gets boring. For low.-yield social movement
activities Linder \\lould predict a declining allocat'ion
of time.
Most of the argument presented above is inferential;
a direct test would require trend data 011 time budgets
by socio-economic groupings. The middle class may
get .less sleep, for instance. But some evidence does
esist on the relation of occupation and education to
time allocation. As part of an international study of
time budgets, the, Survey Research. Center studied
time allocations of the American popilation. They
found, for instance, that the professional .and semiskilled expend an average of two-tenths of an hour on
organizational activities a day; while lower white-collar
workers expend an average of three-tenths of an liour
on such activities. The fact tliat semi-skilled workers
used niass media for an average of 2.6. hours a day
and both
and lower white collar workers
an average of 2.3 hours a day [Robinson and Converse
1966, Table 6, p. 351, however, suggests botli .the low
priority most Americans place upon o r g a n i ~ ~ t i o n a l
activities and at least tlie availability of a fair amount
of non-work time outside of "consi~iiiption cost^."^ The
data on ed\~cationparallel these findings. On tlie average, botli college-educated persons and grade-school
graduates spend less tlian 15 minutes a day in organization activities; there is little variation in average participation by educational attainment [Robinson and ConII
verse 1966, Taldes 5 and 341.
The evidence and inference presented above
strongly suggest that our affluent society is not creating
an enlarged pool'of leisi~rid~riidclle-classcitizens who
are 'potential organizational participants. This view is
consistent with the trend evidence on actual participation. Yet the appearance of more vigorous social activism re'mains. There are many ways, howeyer, in which
tlie affluent society does contribute to tlie creation of
social movements besides tin?e allocations.
'

'

TIie Trerlcl of Socinl ~1fooel1~ent.s

in Ai~lericcr:Pro~essiot~c~li~otiot~
crnd Resoirrce Mobili;cltior~
r~ntaryorganizations to be gaining in contributions.
TIIN is, discretionary income can be allocated to
organizations ranging from the church to educational
institutions, fro111hospitals to politics. Important to our
later argument, there is evidence to indicate that as
discretionary income increases, citizens contribute to
organizations further removed fi-om their o w l personal
experience. The U.S. .Trecr.sr,ry Dcpcrrt~~~etit
Report on
Priocrte Forrt~dntiot!~
[1965, p . . 781 also gives the total
alnount and rates of contributions of individuals
clecluctecl for specific types of purposes. In 1962 the
higher tlie income class the less the ratio of cont~ibul
tions for religious purposes. W e assume tliat deductions'for religious organiiations are usually for chu'rcli
activities with \vhich one is directly and closely
affiliated.
Other evidence srul>po~tsthis interpretation, showing tliat tlie upper educationil and income groups are
Inore heavily over-represented in organizations tliat
pursue "l>ublic regarding" (or statecl othenvise; nonself regarding) goals. e.
Table.5 presents the,proportion of adult' Americans
wlio belonged to different kinds of voluntary groups

T!/l)e of
Qgat~izcitiotl
-\'eterans, Patriotic
Fraternal
Clii~rchand Religious
Social ancl
Recreational
Civic and Service
Political and Pressure
Economic dr
Professional
Cultural, Educational, & Alu~nni.
,

Pcrcerlt 'of
Perccttt of Alettubos,
Arlrrlt
Sotrle
Polx~lntiot~ ~ o / l c g e
Belot~git~g
a
or Afore
14.0
31.0
25.0
.

,16.0
.38.0
4.0

21.0
25.0
23.0

Percettt of
Afei~lbers.
'\fore t h c l t ~
$%00/yr.
Incottle
.

38.0
55.0
38.0

27.0
39.0
42.0

47.0
59.0
56.0

90.

36.0

52.0

'

40.

-50.0 .

42.0

..

In 1933 when thkse data yere collected, approximately 16.8 percent of the population had gone to college; 28 percent of the population earned more than S5.000 annually. Though the middle class is
over-represented in each category. they are less heavily over-represented in "expressive" categories..

Source: tlausknecht 1962, pp. 84, 69, 90

g.

6. See Edward Ranfielcl and J ames

\\lilso~i[1963, 11.
234-1401 for a discussioti of ho\\ reac iness to note and
sll,,,,ort activities that do llot a,,,,ear to have a direct
to oneself or one's own groups varies by class and ethnicity.

in-1953 and the proportion of upl,ei ant1 lower income

and education p o u p s in their meiiil,ership. The 'tol>
four types of groups are those in \vhich people join
largely for espressive and social relational benefits; the
bottom four types tend to be those through \vliicli
people pursue either occi~pntionalor pu111ic-regardiiig
values, arid tliey tend to deernpliasize immediate personal benefits. These data reflect tlie general tendency
of greater over-representation of upper socio-economic
status groups in civic and special purposes groi~psthan
in the more clearly expressive organizations. It is
apparent that tliey are especialli over-represented in
gl-oilps such as political clubs.
has been
The general thrust of the above arg~u~iient
o~t
that affluence gives people resources to s ~ ~ p p their
civic values; tliey can join and contuil~utewidely to
organizations. Such joining need not.l.eflect an increase
in leisure or of time committed to organizational activity. Instead it may reflect nothing more tlian i n interest
in tlie purposes of these orga~lizatidnsand discretionary
resources to back-up that interest.
The amazing funding'potential of,this state of affairs
i of mailed sois illustrated in George k l c ~ o v e r n ' use
licitations for money to sruppo'rt his 1 9 7 Presidential
I~id.In April 1971 it \vas reported that "From 260,000
letters sent out at the time of the kIcGovern candidi~cy
announcement in mid-Janualy, a net total of $250,000,
almost all in s~nallamounts, has come in" [Cltri.rticrru
Scietzce A,lo~litor,April 26, 19'71, p. B6]. Furtlier, it
is reported tliat 1,500 individi~alspledged $100 :Liiiontlr,
to the campaign and I~et\veen2:000 and 3,000 others,
are espected to do so.. Such a response occurred at
a time when Senator h,lcGovern was preferred I y
apl~roximately five percent of his party's s ~ ~ p i m r t ers as a presidential prospect.
It is important to note that joining ;III 01-ganizatiun
may be a prelude to later involve~nentancl activity.
Joining is the lowest rung of the ladder of participation.
Although our general argiument has been that the
population itz generrrl does not participate at a markedly
increased rate now as compared to several decades ago,
the needs of organizations require the111to co-opt members wlio might othenvise be Inore passive participants
[see Long 1958, Ross 19541. A precondition to such
co-option is visibility, and appearance on a membership list can be one of the important bases of visibility.
But the important conclusion from these last two
parts is that even ifactual volunteer time spent in social
movement activity has not increased markedly, more
people are in a position to join and contribute money.
'

Discretioi~anjTime and Trat~sitortjTearns

Analysis of trends in leisure time and its ilsage ssuggests that in general there will not be a markedly

.
t

increased amount of time available for socio-political.

ancl social movement activity. ,Even if ttlot-e tiliie has
not I~ecomeavaiIaIIIe, I~d\i.ever,some occupations, we
. argue, allowv.one more flexil~lyto arrange tlie allocatiori
of time to socio-political activities. Eviclence suggests,
as tiell, tliat tlie highly educated wl;o enter these occui
. pations carry their commitment to work and competencc in work over into a commitment to active leisure
[Wilensky 19641. These occupations are a growing part
of tlie labor force.
Three related propositions 'are advanced: (1) .the
growth of mass higher education creates a large pool
time can be allocatecl,
of str~dents\i~liosecliscretiona~~
to social ~novenlentactivities; (2) as the relative size
of the social senlice, ad~ninistrative,and academic professions increases, niore and Inore professionals can
arrange their time schedules to allow participation in
social move~nent-related activities; (3) a relative
increase in discretion over work-time allocation perniits- the emergence of transito~yteams to engage in
. socio-political activities.

wit11 socio-political sentiment, str~dentsmay beco~l;e

the troops for social movement I~attles.
Indeed, one might argue tliat tlie connection
between leisure and social. move~nentactivities holds
for students as it cloes not for the adult popr~lation.
Since t11ei.r personal incomes tend to be low and task
constraints are weak, they clo not {lice'tlie money consumption prol~lemstliscussed above. Since they are .
~ ~ n ~ n a r r i efamily
d,
demands do not pi111 away from .
social movement activity. Furtliermore, since they
have not heen heavily invol\~etlin political iictivity
before, they are not issue-satiated. Each new cause
leads to renewed invo1ve;iient [Strickland and ~olinstdn.
19701.
There -are apparent empirical patterns to stutlent
nvnilability. They are less 'availal~lein the s u m n ~ e ~ t i m e ,
at least on campus. They may, ho\vever, be more available for coi~centrntecl mission tasks during tlie sum11iel-e.g., Appalncliia, klississippi, 'specific volunteer
programs. They are less availal~leat tlie beginning of
se~nestersand at finals. It is clear tliey are mnsimall).
availal~leright after spring vacation. The \veather is
conduci\;e, tlie hiatus in r1ni\7ersity-\vicieathletics ancl
Student Zt~coloet~tent
the strain of a year o'f str~dyshow best then.
Though. students in general devote large amounts
The periodicity -of str~dent availal~ility may be
of time and.energy to their academic ol~ligations,tliey
attkcted by tlie degree of political acti\.ity in the off'can increasingly rearrange their sclledi~lesto fit' tlie
campus cornmunit)'. IVliere many s t ~ ~ t l e n tand
s esneeds of socio-political action. Traditional techniques
studentslive year-ror~nclnear tlie university in a qr~asiof social control o \ v r college stuclents have been
bohemian state, a s u p l ~ o organization
~t
for campus Imliielasecl. Dormitory hours have been redr~ced, ancl
tics can develop, though the 1,est stutlies of tliis kitid
. more students live outside of d o ~ i n s Class
.
attendance
of' community s ~ ~ g g e s tthat
s a very small propo~tion
recjr~irementsliave Ixen \veakened, and tlie introclr~c- of non-strtdents .maintain any continuous politic;~l
tion- of pass-fail gmding and inclependent study proinvol\;ement through organized groups [Watts and
duces increasing discretion over time scliedul~sfor
M'llittaker 1968; Lofland 19701.
larger proportions of the. student' population. Once
Two tendencies are important here. First, i n an
class attendance is not required, a student can devote
affluent society the person \vho rejects afflr~encehy
large block's of time to social movement activities either
rejecting full-time employment and its related conon dr off campus and make up his academic obligations
sumption costs can drasticnlly increase his c1iscretio1;aftenvards. ,Sucli freedom over sclie.dule has probably
a n time. Although \ye know of no st~~clies
of the' time
been mose typical of.graduate students in the past.
.and financial budgets . of campus non-students, our
That such transiton in\~olvementdoes not necessa.ri1y
assu1i1ption.i~t1i;it one or t\vo days' work a week can
detract from academic perfoniiance is suggested by
support a Ineager life style for a single individual. By
in which
many-studies of studeilt political involveme~~t
sharing thecost of housing ancl food, an incliviclual can
. invol\red students liave been shown, on tlie average,
masimize discretionary time since lie has no academic
students responsil~ilities.Secondly: if lie works on or near camto receive. better grades than non~invol\~ed
[ ~ e n n i s t o n1968, Appendix]. Except at examination. pus, work time and social movement time can easily
time,'and eve11 then, too, if an issue finds widespread' interpenetrate. A.loreover, tlie existence of an offl
enough support, sti~dentsare in an optimum position
caml~i~
ghetto
s
s u p p o ~ t sother infra-strr~cturei1ctiviti.e~
to rearrange time scliedr~lesto accommodate extraand settings tliat facilitate social movement orga1ii7acr~rricularinterests. This interest need not be political,
tional de\~elop~nent,
e.g., coffee liot~ses,restaurants,
11ut when such freedom over time a1locat;on intersects
and ne\i7spapers.
The combination of tlie lengthening of the strtdent
7. The brighter sti~dentsniiglit get e\*enIxtter. grades if
generation
and tlie increasing size of stutlent colio~ts
they \\?ere not so iiivolved in social inovetnent organi/- At 1011s
'
.activity.
means that rnore people are a\.ailal?le to. participate
'

'

'

'

?'Ire ?'rat~d.ofSocinl i\.looel,letits it, Atnericcr: PI-ofessiotinlizntiott

witllin tlie constnlints of tlie student role. Increased

(1iscretion.over time 'allocation makes larger and more
concentrntetl I~locks of tinle availal~le. As tlie 011..ciunpt~stloll-stiltlent bohemian comtnitnity expands;
disconti1iilit)i it1 ncti\.ities can l ~ etiiinimized ancl tlie
accrlmrllatecl experience I~aseincreased, nllo\ving more
efficient utilization ofthe available student manpo\ver.
D.iscretionctry Titne and the Professioilcrls

Earlier we noted tliat tlie upper occupational groups

are not working fe\ver hours; indeed, tliey tiiay I)e
lvorking more, tliougli there are variations. For
instance, tlie self-e~nployedand selected managerial
atid professional categories exhi1,it this pattern, while
eml,loyed engineers <lonot [\4'ilcnsRy 19611. But many
upper occ~;~ations
do sulistantially free their n1eml)ers
from titlie-space constraint, even tliottgll tlie decrease
in self-employn;ent over time may mean that greater
numbers of the college-educated adult population
find themsel\~essul,ject to disciplined sclledules: For
illstance, professors, layyers, co~l,oratedivisional mansettlemelit ]louse (lirectors llave fi-eedoln to
agers,
"arrange" their sclledules to fit tlieir priorities. 1f their
view of occrlpational responsil~ilitiescommits them to
social.moVelnent engagements, at least for some time
I,e~-iods,they can arrange their schedules to accbmlnotlate s~lchirl\~olveme,tit,One of the most striking
Inanifestii.tiolisofthis l~~)ssil)ility
occrlrretl f;)llo\\~ing
tllc
Caml>odiun invasion in the spring of 1.970. Literally
t11orts;mtls of professors, from hundreds of ca;7ipttses,
cancelletl classes fi)r t\vu .or three days to travel to
\,\'asIlinbeon to expiess their discontent. (Note also tliat
the costs of getting to Washington and arranging lodging ancl food were easily borne by these professors and
their colleagues.) Any occupatio~~
whose members are
not tied to specific and sha~plydelineated time and
work spaces may arrange their work loads. to increase
participation in social movements. Though \qre have no
systematic evidence here, we expect tliat such discretionary invol\~ementis widespread. If discretionaly
'time is \videspread; it blunts some\vIiat tlie impact' of
occupational dinkrences in non-work time available.'
Transitory Teatits
Many social movelnents in modem society are cotiiposed of a small cadre and an amolpllous thougli not
unstnlctttrecl collection of sympatllipers and supporters: The existence 'of discretionary time and the
increasing incomes of sympathizers.krike it possible
for groups to be rnol~ilizetlat relatively low cost for
short periods of time. Students nrld professionals are
especially available for such activities. The inability of

'

crtttl!

Rcsorrr-ce klobilizcrtiotr

sympatlletic indi\liduals from other occupational

groups to participate in the recent anti-war ~noratoria
illustrates these variations in constraints. Ad hoc committees are created, ne\vspnper ads are financed, protests are an-allged by gror~psof people \\lit11 l~revious
.expetience in orginization;ll activity (retlr~cingexperiehce costs).\\~hocome together for specific events ant1
maintain only loose ties after the event. Full-time
organizers and cadres may relate to.these groups, but
these relations, too, may be transitotv.
It is probably tlle case that social mo\~ementshave
al\va>~s
1111ilt,u~)on
transitoty.tea~ns.Only the medieval
Crusades, revoliltionaiy wars, ancl fitll-time con:
spirntorial social '~novement organizations dispense
wit11 transito~yteams. The tlifference is that the relative coordination costs have gone down as cliscretio~inty
income and time have increased and as experience wit11
many organizations -has increased. As the skills for
mol,ilizing groups (whetller the Boy Scouts or the
Southern Christian Leader-ship Cgnfe~.ence)I~ecome
\viclesp,read, as people lia\le mane!, fi)r travel or for
.
taking out ads in ~ i e w s ~ x i ~ ~ancl
e r s ,;is they Ilnve some
free time to do wllnt they \visli, tt hnsi t o ~ yteams are
easily n;ocmtecl.
In this part \r;e 11ave esamined trends in modern
society that \voulcl make availa1,le intlivitlr~altime rund .
nioney to social rno\wnents. The idea that an increase
in leist!l-e time in general has recently made avnil;~l)le
more titne for pal-ticil,ation by i~~tlividu;ils
h:~s,]wen
rejected. On the othcr lii1ncl;it has been demonstr:ited
that changes in A~nerican society hn\le encor~ragtrtl
individual participation 'in three I~asicways: (1) A11
increase in per capita income pertnits indi\:idclals to
contribute money and join organizations that :ire compatible with their values; (2) Student life in an affluent
society permits a life style and a network of contacts
conducive to social movement invol\~ement;(3).An
increase in professional and managerial jobs leads to
Inany more people being able to arrange their tin?e
schedules to participate episodically.
The data have 11ot shown directly that individrlals
actually do use time for movement patticipntion. For
instance, it \vould be possible to.use discretionaty time
or money for flo\\fergrowing as \\.ell as social participation. Only the data in table 5 directly bear on tlie cluestion of middle-class participation in political and pul~lic
regarding activities. Altllo~tglitlie micltlle-class participates tnore than any other class in puI,Iic-r.egllrcling
activity, it is more likely to plltticipate in cultilral and
otlier activities, as \\,ell.
The nest section shows that the hnsic structure of ,
instit~ltionsand careers has Iwen changing in sucll a
way as to facilitate an efflorescence of social movement
activity.

11

'

'

source reports items by three categories on rotating

basis, our data actually reflect many grants Sive.11 as
much as one year earlier. Also. it lists only grantsof
The 1960s \\'as a, period of. increased social mo\lement activity. It was also a ~erioclin \vhich institi~tional .$lO,OOO or more and only those of \\~Iiich they are
notified, \Ye .suspect tliat this evidence reflects tlie
support for social movement orgnnizatiorls became
grants of the larger foundations more than the smaller
iiicrensingly availal~leand in which life careers in move-.
ones. (It may also under-report a rise. .in social mo\:ements were more ancl more likely to 11e combinecl with
.
~ n e n tgrants, which may not be l~ul~licizecl.
We were
estal~lishedprofessional roles. Organizations not usu;
informed of a large foimdation grant of S60,000 to the
ally thought ,of as social movement sirpporters-e.g.,
first 1969 anti-wal: inoratorii~m in \Vashington. We
foundations, clir~rcliis,business corpora,tions-began
have not been able to trace this grant in published
to support social movement activities. At the same time
.sources.)
established professions and government itself became
This evidence shows -an increase from $315 million
bases for.socia1 movement activity.
to $677 million in. foundation grants. from 1962-1969.
It also slio\vs that'eclucati~nand international activities
began to receive less suppoit by tlie end of the decade.
Cl~rrrchand Forii~clationSupport .
One must keep in mind that tlie apparent pattern may
Although charitable trusts ant1 foundations are not
not reflect long range trends, for they can be influenced
uniclr~eto the United States, they have I ~ e e nencourby the year to year activities of single orga~iizations
agecl to a greater estent here than elsewhere. The
(e.g., tlie Ford Foundation). The gro\\~tllof social parstructure of estate tas la\vs liacl led capitalists to estahticipation grants-for instance, grants to community
lisli founclations. Foundations date back to the
groups working on open-lioi~singlegislation, and somenineteenth century, .and by 1967 there were some . times.directly to major sodial movement organizations
18,000 of them. The major gro\vtli of fonndations has
such as NAACP, CORE, SNCC; or the Sierra Cl~~l-is
come since 1940, however. InSol-mation gathered in
dramatic. These grants made up 1.1 percent ($3.7 mil1962 about the establisliment of foundations with assets
lion) of total reported grants in 1962 ancl 8. l percent
over $100,000 shows that ~iiostof the foundations (88' ($54.9 million) of such grants in 1969. The increases
percent) 1i:td coine into existence since 1940 (U.S.
were especially large in the areas of race relations,
Treosrrry De))(~rtrt~ozt
Report. 011 Private Forrnclntiotzs
urban problems, ancl poverty 'problems.
1965, 11. 82). It is also apparent tliat the larger fo~uidaWhile it is difficult witti these data to demonstrr?lte
tions were, by and large, founded before 1950. ;'
the exact increase tliat is allocated to social movement
More ,important than the sheer number of foundaorganizations, our point is clear. Foundations have .
tions is tlie growth in foundation assets. The growth
become an important factor in the funding of social
in assets determines tlie ability of foundations to supmovements.
port voluntary organizations, including social move~t tlie same time that foundations have .become
ments. The massi\;e increase (approsimately 1500 perincreasingly involved in social n>ovement funding, so,
cent) in'total assets of foundations between 1930 and
too, have chi~rches.The in\~olvementof tlie Northern
.
1962 has become a fertile source of social movement
liberal clergy in social action is well known and
support.
documentecl [see, for instance H~clden19691. It is not
of foundations is to support
T h e major
a new ~lienomenoii.\17hat appears a new departure
worthy . causes. \Vortliy causes . are very broadly
are trends in social action related projects for three
defined, from feeding the hungl-)l to supporting tlie
of the tnore cot~so-vati~eProtestant churches, the
studies of scholars. Their assets i r e not supposed to
Souther~iBaptist Convention, the American Baptist
be used for the personal benefit of the.founc1ing conConvention, and the Christian ,CIii~rch(Disciples of
tributors or their families, nor can they be used to
Christ). Attention to the 196.3-1969 period .for these
finance
campaigns (although they are explicitly
clii~rcliesshows social action a1l;)cations increasing ti-om
allowed to participate in voter registration calnpaigns),
$263,000 to S7S5,OOO. There is no question that evinor can they support illegal activities, such as l~lowing clence fro111- t h e more lil~eral denominations \voulcl
up banks, nor can they be used to finance-profit-making
reveal an even more dramatic picture, both in terms
of tlle a1,solute alnount of lnoney involved and the rates
activities. Beyond tli.ese restrictions tl?eir scope is
of increase. Again, tlie evidence dces not tlirectly
wide.
demonstrate increased funding of social nhovements,
How have foundations actually expended their
but it stroilgly suggests draniatic increases in the posfunds? We have coded all krants 1isted.in tlie Foundclsibilities of such filnding.
tion News over tlie period 1963-1970. Because this
Institutional Funding and Career Supports

'

'

12

(1t1d Resour-ce ~I(;bili;ntion

The Tretld of social iklouett~oltsit1 Att~erictl: 8-ofessiot~rrliz.c~tio~t

Gor;ertlttlet~tFtrtlding of. Social &lot-entents

Tlie government itself has been in\rolved in the business of supporting social movement organizations.
ij'hile the federal gbvel-nment may .be rapidly withdra\\li~~g
SIICII S L I ~ I ~ I Oit ~ is~ ,clear tliat its, support wls
crucial in the latter half of tlie 1960s. Such support
lias been 110th direct ancl indirect. In terms of direct
s ~ t p l ~ ot!~e
r t Community Action Programs of the Office
of Bcono~!iic Oppot-tunity Iiave I ~ e e nmost important,
as have been some oftlie Model Cities Agencies.-Other
programs sr~chas \'oli~nteers in Service to America
(\'ista) and the legal service program for the poor
indirectly have fr~ncleclsocial mo\lement staff. These
progralns providecl the financial resoitt-ces to support
large staffi for social movement organizations at the
local le\;el. Many such organizations have had few
meml~ers, tlibugli the!? have tried to crtltivate . the
notion that they represent the interests (or desires) of
a large group of citizens. The federal government's
withdra\val fi-om tlie encouragement and fi~ndingof
these commr~nitymovetnents is well documentecl.[see
Donovan 19701.
Tlie government also has fimded social mo\~etiient
activities inclirectly. Gror~pssuch as the National \,\'elfire Rights Org1,anization Iiave been gi\;en progralii
grants for Inanpower training progranis and adult
education. Altl~ouglithe futicls are not directly for sovial
movement activity, they provide a sustenance basis for
a social movement cadre. . kloreover, \vliene\~&rthe
government hinds a program \vliose staff are.1ikely to
have strong commit~nentsto social movcm&t purposes, discretionary time and limited sur\leillance may
lead to a situation-in which goveniment resources are
diverted to social movement purposes. klimeograpli
machines, ~iieetingrootns, postage, and consultation
by staff are availal~lefor allocation to groups and purposes related to, 'but fbrmaily butside of, agency goals
[Gilbert 19701.
.
Filially, there is a third and even more indirect \vay ,
that government ~ ~ r o g r a m
create
s
social movetnent participation. By recluiri~igbureai~craticconsilltat ion with
citizen "representati\!es" on an ad hoc or permanetJt
basis, these. programs create a visible focus for tlie aggregation and articulation of grievances: In some cases
goveniment programs create funded citizens groups.
Even when operating
facilities and funds are
not allocated for citizens groups, a program contingent
upon co~lsultationcreates the opportunity for social
niovement activity and the emergence of l.eaders.8

The incrensing support of social movement activity

by foundations, the cliurcl~es, government,. and
individual donation lias led, we believe, to a massive
increase in "ftuided sociiil movement orgmiizations."
Most of these organizations employ staIf with vatyi~ig
degrees of commitme~;t to movement goals.

Mat~agerialand Stclff Persotltlel

Traditionally three lines of analysis have dominated
thinking about tlie oiigins of tlie leadersliili and staff
of social movements. First,'leaclers might 11e charismatic members of the suffering gl-oup who liave e~nergecl
to articulate ,group needs. Second, intellectr~alleaders
emerge froill cliffeient Ij:~ckgrounds and, by reason
come to identify
of personality and specific,esl~erience,
with the oppressed or deprived groitps. A tliird perq e c t i v e is that as tiio\~ernentsbecoine routinized atld
oligarchical, leaders I~ecomemore and more distant
from tlie.group wliose interests they presuinably represept. .
None of these lines of ;inalysis nllo\\~sits to address
of'social movethe possibility of an institutionnlizati'~~n
ment staff careers indepcntlent of spccific movement
organizations. Yet the changed fi~titlingpatterns we
lia\fe discussed have cartsecl and. liave I~eenaccom:
pallied 11y a cli~mgein hie structr~reo f stall' careers
and of career aspirations that facilitate the stalfing of
social movements, o n a part-time I)asis,f;)r interim
.:
periods, 'and for l i f careers.
)

. ?vllan~iy corporations liiwe traditioniill!. en~ouragetl

their executive personnel to particiliate in cotnmr~nit!~
activities. Indeecl, successh~lparticipation in cornmu- .
nity activities has been 'weighted into the criteria of
evaluatioti for promotion [Ross 19541. kloreover,
lawyers ancl other professionals linve often offered services .free of charge. More ant1 more corporations are .
encouraging participation it] reforming organizations,
as co~nparedto the previous involvement in consensus
pliilanthropic activities such as the 'YXICA, the local
hospital board, or the Red Feather Drive. Business '
.corporations have increasingly become "involvecl," both
by direct financial support and staff involvement.
e w of 247 of
Jules 'Cqlien repol-ts an i ~ ~ t e ~ v istudy
Fortutlc magazine's top 500 firms [1970]. I-lc fou~?dthat
201, or 81 per cent, of tlie firms had some type of
program for social action. Only four of these programs
were ol~eratingin 196.5.
8. .Note that the political trials of the Nison Acl~ninistration
-surl,an crises,*vwl,icll
~ 1 programs
, ~
focused on
Iiave sened a ' similar fr~nctioil. Several ol)sen.ers have
business
saw
as
black
ghettos,
enclnves'of po\rerty,'
,wras no conspir~lcy in 1968, but
relnarked tllnt
was aster the trial.
unemployment, u n d e r - e ~ n ~ ~ l o y ~ n eand
n t , racial ten-

'

sion. The average amount granted by these corporations to local and national groups was Sl75,000 each
year. The study foiuid that the organizations benefiting
most from increased or redirected funding were the
Url>an.Coalition, National Alliance of Businessmen,,
N M C P , United Negro College Fund, and Urban
League. Twenty-five per cent of the firms had added
one of the last three to its donition list since 1967.
Only three firstcontributed to CORE, SNCC, or the
National,\Velfare Rights 0rganization;whicli businessmen considered to be more militant. Twenty percent
of the firms indicated making a special effort to contribute to local grass-roots self-help programs. One San
Francisco executive's feelings were, "Let's contribute
'neighborhood-wise and'avoid the kind of demonstrations that have hurt a few competitors." Twenty-seven
companies indicated that they liad sought out community groups to ask if they would accept donations.
Such funding reflects the behavior of the churches
and foundations, but of particular importance here is
tlie donation of staff time. Twenty-five percent of the
firms studied donated st& and facilities under their
programs. hslany had one o r more esecutives on a conimunity board, working with Urban Coalition, advising
on an anti-poverty council, working with tlie Model
Cities program, or helping black businessmen with
management problems. Some teach and others lead
youth groups. About 40 percent of the companies
encoilraged their staff. to- help with community programs, and half of these firms allowed this \vork to
be on company time. With some exceptions; coinmunity based firms that need good local community relations tend more uniformly to make donations
and be involved. in community activities.
Whether bi~sinessescontinue to donate personnel
and money and have special training and hiring programs is partly dependent upon tlie incentives for
doing so-the perception of success, tlie encouragement and tas benefits offered'by government, and the
like. One.of the benefits.accruing to some businesses
\vill be their ability to attract managerial talent, though
the relative tightness of the labor market ought to
reduce sucl'i competition for talent. For instance, Business Week (March 1970, p. 107) reports that a group
of graduate sttidents at tanf ford Business School, had
established' an evaluatioh of what corporations were
doing about social problems. Some students said they
wbuld consult the list before joining the firm.
It may seem fancifi11.tobelieve that corporate participation in social problems would.be a majo; detenninant
of job choice of business. scliool graduates, but it is
less fancifi~lto believe that law students will take such
considerations seriously. A report. in' Forttrne
[~alaznick19691 indicates that young lawyers joining

elite firms not only expect to be allowed to spend one

paid day a week on social problem law, but they expect
their senior partners to donate their efforts as well.
Assuming (1) continuing concern with causes related
to social movements-and (2) a scarcity of top talent,
corporations and law firms can expect to continue to
be pressed for movement involve~nentand to continue
to .provide some part-time st& 'personnel to sucli
.niovements.
~ h o u g h we do not have -figures demonstrating
increases in tlie allocations ofchurch personnel to social
move~nentactivity, we suspect that this institutional
sector has increased such allocations. The recent heavy
involvement of priests and nuns in both full and parttime capacities in movement-related activity, sometimes through church projects and sometimes through
tlie' outright allocation of persolinel, has been much
noted. Churclies may face tlie same problem that law
firms and.corporatibns have liad to face: The continued
recruitment and retention of top talent may require
more and nlore willingness to allow issue action on
both a temporary and full-time basis.

Temporary Full-time Positions

A number of programs and positions have recently

'been developed in which individuals devote te~nporary
periods u p to two years to worthy causes. These 1)t-ograms include alternatives to military service, VISTA,
and the Peace Corps. The goals of these programs do
not require their participants to be activists, but their
goals are ~ f t e n ' c o m ~ a t i b lwith
e
activist persuasions.
Furthermore, the positions are often tulned into activthat many sponsoring
ist adjuncts. It is our im~~ression
local organizations maintain only loose control over
. these assignees, possibly because tlie organizations
receive these services .gratis. Two examples we have
observed: (1)a technician fulfilling his alternative service in a .local hospital \vlio is allowed to arrange his
job schedule around his major, commitment: fighting
urban renewal and pollution; (2) a conscientious objector fulfilling his alternative senrice with the UnitarianUniversalist cliurch who is assigned full-time to a social
movement .organization working against repressive
legislation." The importance of sucli programs and
positions is hvofold. On the one hand, the positions
swell the cadres of social movements (by some admittedly unknoyn factor). As important, the program
becomes a mechanism for reinforcing the values an.d
life commitments of.participants.
VISTA liad over 4,000 volunteers in the. field in late
1970 and some 48-percent of those who had been
enrolled .for one year extended their stays, reenrolling
for a n ~ t h e r ' ~ e aA
r . large proportion of VISTA alumni

.
'

. .

Tl12 Trertrl of Social ~\~lol;err~er~ts

i r ~Arrter-iccr: Profe.ssior~nli.(~tim
o t ~ dResorrr-ce AIobilizmtior~

go into the helping professions or Inck to collegiate . movements. To put this proposition in perspective,
educntiot~.\'lSTk claims tliat; of those retittning to
contrast the situation today with tlie 1930s. Then the
school, rottghly Ilnlf participate in part-time voli~~iteer liberal or radical college student cottlcl attempt to enter
tlie labor movement (e.g., Walter Reuther), become
a labor lu\vyer, or join a governnient agency. The labor .
These temporary programs,- as \veil as the many vol.question was the major social movement issue. \Ve sits:
are important not only
unteer 1xogratiiu)f111iiversities,
pect tliat tlie actrial number ofcollege gr~cluntesjoining
1)ecnuse tlnc!. organize n large pool of manpower for
current social movement 1xtrticil)ation I)i~tbecai~se the labor mo\~ement\\Ins really quite Small. The Walter
Reutliers \ilere rare esceptions. To become a fitll-time'
they are reinli)rcing and c1n;unneling meclianisni for
advocate of social change, saintliness was recluired and
young aclults \\dlose ttnease \\;it11 American society has
\lo\irs of poverty \vould have only reflected reality.
not fbr;netl into specific career choices and political
itleologies. \Ye suspect tliat such programs serve as
\Ve are not the first, however, to identify the growth
a training gro~tnclfor those \vlio \voulcl make social
in such career ol~portunitiesin post-\Vorld \Var I1
-111ovementactivit\l a life career. while at the same time
America. \Vilensky [1956, 19631 has called attention
suggesting the I~ossil~ility
of such carecrs.
to the "progratn professional," who is a Iiiglily compeThe Inany possibilities a\~ailablefor tliese temporary
tent expert iii a particular socinl policy sucln as public
apcl part-time careers is reflected in a peri~salof any
assistance or race relations. Tliis professional moves
issite of Voccrtior1.s for Socicrl Cl~trr~gc. Pi~blisliecl in a!nd out of governnient agencies, private agencies,
bimot~thlV
. l q.r a California commune, Vocr~tiorls lists
community organizations, foiunclations, and univera \vide variety of staff and line positions open in comsities. His commitment is to specific programs and
munity and national organizations. Tlie following sampolicies rather tlinn to any specific 'organization. Prople of'positions was advertised in a recent issue:
gram professionals have been able to pursue successA com~n~~nity-elcctecl
corporation tieeds a program
fully such careers for sonne time. 'It is the recently
planner director;
expanding opportr~nitiesfor sucln careers that we wish
SUIICIC (Syract~seUni\.crsity Ilrnl't Cor~nsc:lingant1
1nfi)l.lnntion Center) is' I~resentl!looking li)r :I fi~ll-time to note here.
c/rcl.ff corcrr:ic~/ort o run tl~cirtlrafi c o ~ ~ ~ ~ sce~iter
e l i ~ iat
g SyrilA number of relatively \veil-liniuncecl occupations
,cusc u.;
that support sucli social change commitments have
T l ~ e\\'orltl \\'itl~o~~t
\\'ar'Co~~nkil
11;ts opening in the
emerged in mode111 America. \\'itliin 1;1\v, poverty la\\.,
1)e;icc i n t c i l . ~1)1.ogi.;um
~
.. . ;
consumer
law, ancl civil rights law liave eacli tievelopetl
A~)~c:ric.;~n
17ric,~~tls
S c ~ ~ i Com~nittee
ce
. . . 111lcr-rrs
work
..
substantial
fi~ndingclaims. \Vliile tnost of' tlie lefrorts
in tcn~nsof't\vo'in sl)ecific comm~~nitics
in the Nc\v York
Cit! area . . . Sitlnt-\.is 84500 per year. [\70caiiortsfor.
of tliese lawyers are devoted to specific cases, an imporSocirrl Clltrrrgc 19701
tant part of these agencies' functioning involves tnaking
visible
social problems ancl changing tlie structure ancl
Tliis institutionalization ofemploymet~tinlimn'ltion for
operation
of government. These lawyers liave helped
social movement organizations pt-ol~ablywill become
organize
community
action groups, cons111neicooperamore widespreacl, unless traditional channels of
tives,
housing
g;.oups,
and so on. The annilal 1,udget
employment infbrmation step in to meet tlie demand
for
legal
services
(OEO)
fbr instance, incl-eased horn
for sitch se~vice.
$25 million in 1966 to $42 million in 1969. In 1967,
1200 la\vyers were emplo!~ed by this progra111.[Levitan
Full-time Cnreers
19691; there were roughly 2,000 in 1969. ~ossil,lymore
. A1tllougll
gro\\'tln
lttni\rersit!' ghetto sl'bit11portant tllaIl the nalllbers of]nwers are their edllc.lc u l t ~ ~ r the
e , emergence of co1nmunal living, and the
tionaI backgroLlnds.Leading la\\. scllools find that their
growth of ternporaly progralns such as VISTA all conbest
are the most colllll1itted to acti\~ism.
tribute to a manpower p o l available for social moveSimilar processes have occitrrccl in tlic social work
ment activities, they do not reflect what may be the
~ i ~ ~ ~ \\,(,,.k
~ i lias~ consisted
~ l l of ~
major change influencing the careers of social movethree lnajor llranclles:
colnmllnitp o r ~ n i z ; l t i o n ,
ment leadership: the growing institutionalization of discaework, and nrou,,
- - work. o t h e r subdi\,isions,
sent.
titnes cross-cutting tlie al,o\:e, are administrati~nand
. .
Briefly stated, as a result of the massive gro\vtll in
medical social work, psychiatric casework, ant1 so on.
funding, it has becolne possible fo; a larger number
Community organizction, however, Ilas not aI\vays
of professionals to earn a respectableincome ,commitattached itself to social change functions. It has been
ting thetnselves fitll-time to activities related to social
related predo~ninantlyto 110th community f111ndraising
and inter-agency coordination: Social workers have
..
traditionally been sympathetic to reform moifements,
9. V.S.C., ~ n c . 130s
,
13, Canyon, California 94516.
'

'

but the structure of job opport!~nities has nleant that

tions .\\lit11 which we are niost concerned appear to be
1)ublic assistance casework has been the dominant job
underreported in these volumes. Only national organizations are reported and .short-lived ones do not
category [ ~ i l e n s k ' yand Lebeaus 19651. In 1950, for
instance, only 4 percent of American social tvorkers
appear. \Ve, 'therefore, \\~oulcl expect this source to
underestimate any trend. Nevertheless, the evidence :
\\.ere categorized as primarily involved in community
organization [U.S. Departlnent of Labor 19511. ~ v e n is instructive in hvo respects. First, besides the category of'associations \i7e have termed task-relntec1,l1 the
in 1956 only 2.5 percent of the graduates of hvo-year
public &airs and the healtll, education and welfare
schools in social work were placed in community
organization positions [Statistics on Social \,Vork'~rltr- categories seem to be gl-o\ving at the greatest rate in
cation 19561. .
terms' of absolute numbers of organizations. Second,
But in the 1960s, community organization was
the health, education and welfare category exhibits a - increasingly seen as a viable professional route to social
dramatic increase in a\rerage staff size, a far greater
change if one observes the recent trend in commi~riity inciease than in any other category. Those categories
that are most likely to reflect social cause organizational
orgahization enrollments in scl~oolsof social work.
proliferation show above-average increases in both
Whether you use a ilarrow or broad definition of comnumber of organizations and staff size. Of course, not
munity organization practitioners, behveen 1965 and
all
staff in the social issiie-related associations are social
1969 t h e r e was well over a 300 .percent absolute
movement
activists. Many are clerks, secretaries, and
increase and a 200 percent relative increase in the
bookkeepers
with only minimal attacllment to organiyearly supply of commimity organization practitioners
zational goals. In spite of their problematic nature,
graduating with- masters degrees in social work
however, these data reveal a rather si~bstantiilgro\vth
[Statistics 011 Social\170rk Education 1965-1969, tables
e r organization staff positions.
254, 2551. \'hen finished with their training these pro- .- in the absolute ~ i u m l ~'of
fessionals might be e ~ n ~ ~ ~ l oiny eOEO
d
Commi~nity This trend supports our observation that it is I~ecoming
increasingly possible for a com~nittecl incliviclual to
Action Programs, Model Cities planning agencies,
c a i ~ eout a career of social issue-related movement
foundation-funded neighborl~oodprojects, job training
leadership without fiyancial sacrifice. Furtller, as these
programs, com1i7unity-based delinquency programs,
staft'positions multiply, the necessity of linking a career
ant1 ,the like. In one case with whicl~we are familiar.
- ,
o r 01-ganizatioriis redt~ced.
to a single ~no\Jement
a white com~iiunityorganizer with a bachelor's degree
Let us summarize our reasoning to this point.. We
from an Ivy League school became the. business advisor
have accepted the observation. of an appearance ,of,
to the Vice Lords, a confederation of black youth'gangs
dramatic increases in socio-political anti socipl movein Chicago.
is
ment activity. Though no dramatic iilcrease in the level
Besides legal and com~iiunityorganization positions
of
time and energy participation among the general
related to social movements, a variety of consulting
citizenry
is apparent--the phenomenon, if it exists, is
organizations and established social action agencies
not
general-we
have continued to search for a \i;ay
have pro\~icleclcareer options to activists. 'For example,
of
accounting
for
appearances:
\Ve have looketl- at strlan ex-Unitarian minister may become an American
dents
and
professionals
in
this
light
and conclr~cledthat
Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) development officer, an
they
are
relatively
free
foibursts
of 1i;lrticipation in
urban cl~urclimay set up a community development
.tIie.short
run,
whether
01- not they have increasing
center, a group of black college graduates may form
amounts of leisure time availal~le in the long r i ~ n .
a consulting firm to advise hlodel Cities groups and
Finally, we have looked into the flow of'resoi~rccsfrom
business corporations. It is inlpossible to estimate the
several
large sectors .of the society, especially the .
number of positions involved. Many of these consulting
fouiidations,
organized religion, and the affluent classes
firms seem to be short-lived, lasting a year or hvo at
discreti0.na1-y
personal i~icomeand conclucled
through
best.
that
there
has
been
a
dramatic increase in both the
We h a v ~investigated one source of evidence that
direct
and
indirect
flow
of such resources to social
may reflect this trend, though it is frought with pro'b~novement
organizations.
This state of affairs has
lems: s t f i n g trends in different types of national non110th short and -long range
increased
the
possibility
of
profit organizations listed in Gales' Encyc1o))edicl of
careers
as
social
movement
organization leaders.
Associations [1964, 1969].1 The major measurement
To.
this
point
we
have
focused primarily upon
problem here is. that some of the lnovement organizachanges in individual and institutional support for tlle
10. Tlie first edition of this encyclopedia was ~~~blishedgrowth of social movement organizatio~~s..
i n the followin 1959. I t seemed clear to us that t l ~ e1959 volltlne was
ing
section
we
focus
upon
the
way
in
which these . .
quite incomplete as a result of non-relmrting oforganizations.
The 1964 edition appeared to reflect more compreliensi\~e changes influence modern social movements and the
coverage, so we esa~ninedthe 1965-69 time period rather
than the 1959-69 period, which we yoitld have preferred.
11. Horticulti~re,nouby and Avocational, and Athletic.
. .
'

,'

'

The Trend of Socicd Afooett~et~ts

it] Americcr: Professiottcrli~c~tion
ntlrl Resorrt-ce Mobilizatiotl
leaders,'and to procure equipment-from mimeograph
machines to arms. The mass base may or may not provide manpower for the program of redress; often it
does not provide the leadership cadres, but it must
The Classical Model and Modern Social
. provide manl>o\\rer for cells, and an army ancl tlie mass
Movements
must be mobilizable for demonstrations and .electoral
Scholars a s disparate in conceptual focus as Srnelser
particip a t'Ion.
[1963], Turner and Killian [1957], and Zald and Ash
(9)The size and intensity of social movement organi[1966] have shared certain assumptions about the
zations is thought to reflect the existence or nonnature of social movements. These assumptions about
existence of grievances that must be dealt \\.it11 by the
motivations to. participate, tlie conditions favoring I>oliticalleadership of tlie society in question. (10) Once
group formation, and the natural history of niovetlie I>roblemsthat forliied tlie initial basis for concerted
ments, \ve label the classical model. This 11iodel is clas- action have been solved,. tlie mass base \\:ill be satiated,
sical in two senses: It summarizes a long tradition, and
and the movement may disappear sin& the grievances
it is now seriously out of date
upon which it was based have disappeared. Or, as more
Traditional analysis of social movement organizations
frequently happens, such a movement is transformed
begins with (1) an analysis of a class, catego~y,or group and institutionalized. Follo\ving the. work of Weber.
of individuals who have a common grievance or who
[1947] ancl hjichels .[1949] modern analysis of social
are subject to common strains. Indeed, without such movements has been liea\lily focilsecl upon such proa mass the cl,issical nod el could hardly conceive of cesses of institutionalization and the implications of
a social movement taking form. The mere existence such changes for goals, tactics, and tlie internal strucof a social category with a common grievance, however, ture of movements.
.does not determine the birth of a social movement.
An important characteristic of tl;is model prior to
(2) Communication among the members of tlie group
transformation and institutionalization is its focus upon
is seen as crucial to later common effort. (3) Environthe ps~~cliologicalstate of the member or potential
mental factors impinge upon the groiip, molding tlie -member' attempting to account for his motives for
possibilities for effective 'commilnication of common
involvement. "Tension," "frustration," and "relative
grievances and the possibilities for group action. Liter- deprivationu are key ternis in such an account. Even
acy, residential patterns, tlie structure of working conas tlie interdependence cif the movement wit11 e n \',lron'
ditions, discontinuities in personal esperience, and the
mental forces beyond its support base are anajyzed,
existence of charismatic leaders are a few of tlie condi- 'tlie psycl~ologicalstate of the support base remains crutions that are important in determining the likelihood
cial [Zald and Ash 19G6]. (11) The leaclership of the
of com~iiunicationsand its effectiveness in mobilizing . movement must be sensitive to the emher hers hip as
the members [Burks 1961, Street and Leggett 19611. well. Since its ability to niobilize res,ol!rces ancl
(4) 1f communication is more or less effective, the grotip energies for concerted action depends upon the feelis more likely to take some concerted action to rectify
ings of tlie menibersliip, its existence as a leadership
tlie grievances. (5) In the, early stages, Iiowever; tlie
presumably depends upon its,ability to sense tlie memclassical model teaches us to' expect ill-organized,
bership's needs.
somewhat random responses designed to redress grievThe.utility of this model for the analysis of some
ances. (6) Only after a well-defined leadership emerges
movements cannot be questioned. However, for
do we find well-defined group action. (7) As emergent
reasons related to the argument above,' we believe.that
leaders confront the colnlnon problems of the group,
it does not accurately describe tlie genesis of many
they help to define them and devise explanations for
modern movements. Nor does it seem to present a
their occurrence-i.e.,
they develop an ideology. The
valid picture of the genesis of many earlier moveinents.
ideology helps to direct action toward specific targets
The limits of the classical nod el can best be demonand helps the leadership define legitimate organizastrated by illustrating' how leaders of many modern
tional folms designed to make efficient use of the mass . movements operate independently of a membership
base.
during the earliest stages of organizatio~ialgro\vth. We
Such an image of tlie genesis and develop~nentof
will then esamine an alternative model, the professocial movement organizations makes several other
sional movement model, and docunient instances
assumptions, often implicit, which ~:iust be brought
where it is applicable.
t p the fore. (8)The membership or mass base pro\.ides
The Declining unctions of the Membership
the resources-money and manpower-that allow the
Base
movement to survive and c a n y out its program. FinanTO repeat, in the classical model the membership
cial resources are needed to support the propaganda
base
provides money, voluntary manpower, and
apparatus of the movement, to support organizers and

al)l>licabilityof the classical model of social movements

to the changed cir~umstances.

'

'

...

'

J o h t ~D. AIc Cot-thy

lendersliip. klodem moveme~ltscan increasingly find
'tliese resources outside of self-interested tnetnl~ersliips
concerned with personally held gl-ievances. Of course,
tiietiibersliip base and beneficiary base (those who \\.ill
'personally benefit from movement success) liave never
beeh necessarily synonymous with movement organizations, tliough the .classical model's stress upon selfinterested action lias tcncled to ol~scuretliis point.
Early civil rights organizations, for instance, were
.heavily peopled by whites, \\~liiie tlie prime
beneficiaries of any successful civil rights action were
black. One must remember tliis distinction in \\hat
follo\vs, since we will argue both tliat the likelihood
of disjul;ction I~etweenmovement organizations and
beneficiary bases has increased ant1 that the meaning
of inembersliip for many movement organizations lias
been altered by tlie trends we have reviewed above.12
Tlle Separation of F[ittclit~ga t ~ dLeaders front
the Base
Due to tlie ft~nclingpattel-ns described in the last
part, it is increasingly possible that tlie financial support fbr i t movement 0rg;mization coi~ld he totally
separate hom its presumed beneficiaries. Consecluently the base lacks any control.over the leaderorgatiizntion. Tlie separation of
ship of tlie ~novementfitncling from base 111-ol~ably
increases the likeliliood
tliat t l ~ emovement organization \\,ill sr~rvivebeneficial-\..satiation. \\'e \vould espect a movement organization lendership to have an interest in preser\~ing;the
org:uiizntion even after-the aggrieved g r o i ~ phas been
satisfied. l3 If base and resources arc sharply separated,
the organization may survive without serious attempts
to redefine its goals. (If tlie nioveme~itorganization
is fi~ndeclby foundations, cliurclies, and donors external to tlie I~resulneclbeneficiaries, leaders, in lieu of
goal transformation, may have to renew. their moral
credentials in the eyes of their financial supporters.
A leader witli unimr~eachable
dedication to cause does
.
not liave to resort to exotic means of deliionstrating

layer N. Zrrlrl
his leadership position. But wrl~el-etlie leacler bas
primarily etnkrged in a situation of separation I~ehveen
fimcling ancl 11eneficiat-y base demonstration of credentials can take bizarre forms.)
I Gordon Tullock ['19GG] has argued tliat tlie "efticient"
altruistic agency is one that uses its resources to .masimize donor utility. If tlie agency uses any funds to
actr~allyalleviate prol,lems of the l~opulution,i t does
so only to insure credibility in tlie "eyes" of the donors.
For instance, since donors cannot observe t1iei1- largesse being given to tlie starving children of Pakistan,
tlie most impel-tant product is before-after photographs
(even if made in a New York studio). Trtllock's cynical
argument makes an important point: The growth and
maintenance of organizations hose formal goals are
aimed at helping one population bi~t.\vliodepend 011
a different population for .funding is ultimately more
clepeticlent upon the latter than tlie former. Outside
financial support, indeed, means that a membersliip
in tlie classical sense is almost clispcnsal~le.Outside
funding- allows a leaclersliil) to replace volrlnteer manpower drawn from tlie base witli paicl staff members
chosen i111oti criteria of skills and esper.Cence.
Mass Media and Moveti~entOrgat~izutions

Though we will .not treat tlie use of mass mcdia by

modern movement organizations i l i any systematic
cletail here, we ~iiustmention several cliaractcristies
o f this important fact of movement organizi~tion
I~eliavior. Since tlie invention of printing and the
gl-owtli of \viclespre;icl litclxcy, sobial m o v e ~ ~ i eorg;lliint
zations have employed mass communic;itions to 1)uild
membership commitment, to garner suppot-t for move' ment goals, and to influence decision ~nakers.Tlie
advent of photogravure was an important development
allowing ,the wiclespreacl portrayal of 11u1n:in sufkring
to \~iewerswitli no direct experience of distant events.
Early efforts u7ere restricted to pamphlets and newspaper coverage, but the niodelli era has seen tlie.nearuni\iersal availability of radio ancl television. Tlie tremendouscomln~mication~ o t e n t i a of
l tliese new forms
. cannot be controlled directly by movement organiza12. \\'e mity o\,crst;ttethe ~ ; l e a ~ iof
i nmcml,ersliip
~
for the
tions in tlie same way tliat pamphlet content could be
social
classical motlel. The often Ilazy tlistinction I>et\\~een
controlied.
The universality atid immediacy of tliese
movc~nent ;md social mo\,e!ne~it organizatio~iin this litnew fbrms, however, allow movement organization
erature ma) clor~da n rtnderstnntling of the term membershi Certainly m ~ ~ cof
l l the intlivirlual I,eha\,ior tlisc~~ssetl leaders to attempt to manipillate images of social pro11i v i i i n the I;.ame\\,ork of the classical nod el is episodic,
es11il)iting otlly ~ninim;~l
co~n~nitment.
Tr;ttlitio~l;il;t!l;~lysis letns with far greater .impact. As well, tliese,forms perappe;u-s to assltlnc t h ; ~ tthe on]!. clc~nlificatio~l
for ~ncml~ershi~)mit the mobilization of sentiment without direct perit1 a sociid ~no\.etnetlt
is .senti~nentsy~npathy.Org;micltio!ial
sonal contact. It is tlii~spossible for a well-financed
meinl>ershipseems to be another matter I,r!t. as \\re \\.ill
movement
organization to parlay .? group's grievatices
argNe, m;ly recluire no Illore.
into tlie appearance of seething discontent \vIiile by13. See Dn\,id L. Sills [I9571 for ;,I> illustration of this
process, normslly termed goal succession, for Tlie Nation;~l passing the political processes of the classical model.
For~~lclation
Ibr Infantile Paralysis. Success in erndiciiting
In tile classical model 'tlie size and the amount of
infa~itile~,;lr;tlysisrecluired the tlevelopment of new goals
activity of a movement and its corresponding movelife.
to justif?.continued org;~nizatio~lal

.
.
Many recent movement leaders 'have utilized the
ment organizations are l)res~~mably
a tip-off to a l>olitimedia in this manner. For 'instance, Sfokely Carcal elite that sonie action on its part is necessary, be
t;iicIiael, .\\~Iioduring his "Black Po\ver'' phase was
it relwessive or ameliorative. Size and amount of actival\?ays good copy, received widespiead coverage. Tlie
ity are likely to energize'wliat Lipsky [196S] calls referiml>ression lie clearly sought to i111~1h1-t
\\'as " ~ ~ ~ o k e s ~ i i i l n
ct~cc~)iiblicsof elite decision iiiakers-those groups
.
for tlie American black coi~imunity."The movement
to \vliom tlie clecision makers are ~iiostsensitive.. If
that lie Iieacled at tlie time, tlie Stuclent Non-viole~it
ad
these l~ul)licscan 11e convinced of w i ~ l e s ~ ~ r egrievCoordinating Committee (SNCC), never possessed a
ances, tliey may act on elite decision makers directly
Iilrge inenibersliip and did not attempt to recruit one
But the public's
in favor of tlie goals of tlie ~iio\~ement:
[Zinn 19641. Further, the majority of a representative
perception of a movement's intensity of action may
sample of black respondents apparently -did not
reflect media coverage rather than the acti~altneiiiberappl-ove or were una\vare of Carmiclinel's views [h,1:1rx
shill strength or the scope ancl intensity ofgrievances.
19671. But by becoming 'good copy Cariiiicliael was
A moveinelit may nppetrr to command a Iat-ge memberable to gain extensive coverage and t11erefore.appear
sliil~in the classical sense, \vhile in fact tlie meinbership may be nonesistent or exist only on paper. If si~cli to be speaking for a broad' constituency. Of course,
elites ancl authorities ;Ire sophisticated; tliey listen to
a state of afi~irscan mobilize reference publics syiiitlle folks back home, read their mail, keep an ear open
pathetic to movement goals, we may speak of ma,
to their constituencies [Lindblom 19681. ~ l i ' u s televinipulating the elite's perception of the necessity' fol'
action. . .
sion by itself hai-dly cot~frolsthe images that elites perceive. It may liave more effect upon elites indirectly
Attempts to manipulate elite
of the
tliror~ghreference publics:
necessity of action occur in t\vo stages. Tlie first
But at the same time that television com~nunicates
addresses sectors of tlie elite wlio are most involved
an impression of tlie state of tlie \,rorld to elite and
in fiuidiiig inoyement organizations. Such financial
support depends i~pona perception I)y some fi~iiding policy makers,-it also'attkcts social movement mass supsoul-ce of a.clisparity bchveen present reality and the
port and.opl~osition.InColvement, pro or con, 1,eco;iies
prol~erstate of tlie \vorld. Once funding is secure, tlie
less depenclent upon personal esperie~lce and
move~nentorg;inization can focr~srlpon imparting this
immediate situational contest .and more clepenclent
same sense ofdisparity to I,oliticnl decision milkers and
upon image and i~iipression,wllicli are, in great part,
-their relerence pul~lics.(Tliough these .hilo stages can.
filtered tl~roiigl~
the meclium. At tlie same tinie tliat
the media shape pe~-cel)tion,they select .the &vents
be separated nn;llytically, in practice tliey are not
and pr'oblems to be defined [Warner 19711. \\'hat a radialways distinct.)
I'
cal or a college professor believes is tlle problem; tlie
Television is well suited to portraying disparities
hetween 1:eal and ideal conditions. First, few American
media may reject. The mass media present news and
liotnes tod;ly lack at least one television set. In 1969
problems tliat they define as of interest to the masses.
95 percent oi' American homes had a television set
It is l>ossible that some issues that origltt to generate
[Finnl Kcpot-t of tile Nnfioticll Cot~~it~ission
011 C ~ ~ i s c s social movements get short-changed in the process.
clncl Prcl;ct~fionof Violetice 19'701. Second, the scope
of ci~verageand tlie iii~~liediacy
of dissemination mean
The Growing Trend to Ztlcltcsive Orgnnizcltions
thit events in any area oftlie nation are directly observBecause television can involve in a prol)le~npeople
a l h . Occttrrences on tlii streets-in Selm:1, Alabama,
who do not have direct contact \vith the events or
ancl Hosbu~y,kInssaclii~setts-indeed, anywhere on
the globe--can be seen almost as tliey happen. This
l>roblems, a larger pool of potential ,srtpporters is
would not necessarily ankct perceptions of real-ideal
created. (TV news can be seen as advertisements for
social causes.) Cotiibii~ed with increasing disposal~le
disparities, since coverage could be restricted to torincome.'nnd tlie use of mailed requests fbr fiuids, the.
nadoes, murders, religiot~sobse~vances,ancl.tlie latest
in clothing styles; but for one reason or itnother social
inclusive form of social movement olganizi!tion is likely
movement activity .based on real-icleul clisparities
to characterize newly forn~edorganizations.
Some. \vriters, using tlie classical ~iiotlelof. social
receives extensive coverage on television-this matemovement organizations, assume \\+at has been
rial is good col~y..Television has clearly created new
opportunities for social movement leaders [Hitbl~ard termed esclusive tneml~ersliip.That is, membership
is seen as reflecting a strong commitment to the organi19681. By knowing which events make good television
ns.
copy, niovetnetit organization leaders liave used, the
zation as the sole agency 'for rectifiing l ~ r o l ~ l e ~Inclusive membership, on tlie other hand, means partial.
medium to create the impression ofividespread activity
coin~nitmentand relatively little in tlie way of memberand grievance.
'

'

ly

A*layerN. Zall

ship requil'ements [cf. Zald and Ash 1966). Inclusive

~nemhersliipis not new. It has characterized churches,
unions, ancl most voluntary associiitions in America for
clecacles. The American Civil Liberties Union is an
inclusive organization. The large bulk of tlie member;
s h i l ~participates in the activities of the organization
only through its contributions. A large number of the
recent anti-war. groups have functioned as inclusi\~e
organizations, in the same manner as did many of tlie
earlier civil rights organizations. The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP)
demands little lnore of members than'regular contributions. Anyone who has contributed funds to such an
organization knows how widespread the phenomenon
of mailed requests for such funds has become. The
. gro\vtli of a middle class with disposable income and
ideological commitment activated through the portrayal of red-ideal disparities is all that is necessary
to guarantee the growth of such movement organizations. The donor to s u c h a movement has little control
over the movement leadership short' of ivitliholding
fi~nds'.\Yitliliolding funds, however, does insure SO&
control if other funding sources are lacking, and
requires .that a leadership properly gauge and mold
donor grievances. A classic illustration is provided by
the different response of SCLC, CORE, and NAACP
to charges of anti-senlitism.- Both SCLC and NAACP
have been closely tied to Jewish financial support, and
both have responded to protect their lines to tlie Jewish
community. CORE, which has'attempted to be a more
militant soci:tl movement organization, has been niore
ready to play to its mass base rather than its supporters.
The important point, however, is that as more and
more organizations that are at the same time inclusive
,and heterogeneous develop, they will become less
dependent upon a i y single base of support. As will
be seen below, movement organizations based upon
inclusive membership contributions may represent
mixed forms displaying characteristics 'of both classical
and modern forms.
.

The rise of professional social movements results

from changed funding patterns and resulting changed'
career patterns of social ~novementleaders. Movement
leaders in this matrix become social move.ment entrepreneurs. Their movements' i~npactresults from tlieir
skill at manipulating images of relevance and support
through the communications media. Thc professional
social moveinent is the common form of recent movements and reljresents a sharp departure froni the classical model. Although movement entrepreneurs have
always existed and some earlier movements closely

resemble tlie professional movement (viz. 'the social

movement organizations making up the Progressive .
movement), modern conditions bring theni to the fore.
Daniel kloynihan [1969] coined tlie phrase. "tlie
professionalizatioi of reform," to describe the extent'
to which tlie .Kennedy-Johnson "War on Poverty" Lvas
conceived and implemented by the government and
foundations. The War on Poverty represents a citse of
political issue entrepreneurship. Its' only partial link
to the classical model was its connection to the civil
rights movement: Our analysis goes beyond
Moynihan's; .we-think, in'making explicit tlie clepartures from the classical model.
characterized by:
Professional social moveme~~ts~.are
(1) A leadership that dei~otesfull time .to tlie movement.
. (a) A large, proportion of resources originating outside the 'aggrieved gioup that the Inovement claims to represent.
(2) A v e s~iiall
~ ~ or nonexistent meml~ersliipbase
or a paper membership (membership implies
little more than -allo\ving name to ,be used upoli
mernbersl~iprolls.)
(3) Attempts to impart the image of "speaking for
- a potential constituency."
(4) Attempts to influence policy toward that saliie
constitu'en~~.
As we noted earlier, we do not believe that tlie esistence of professional social movements is a neiv
plieno~nenon;such an organizational form has. esistsd
in the past. It is tlie widespread nature of tlie phenomenon that characterizes the modem era. Earlier periocls
of intense social movement activity have spawned
Illany similar organizations.
For instance, while the progressive movement
apparently l~ossessecl a substantial sentime~tt base,
there is some evidence that progiessive social nlovement organizations had difficulty in recri~itingactive
memberships. And even though ~nembersllipswere
small in such organizations, "only a small part of the membership did more than pay their yearly clues or
.make more generous contril~i~tions
to their fiivorite
organizations" [Yellowitz 1965, 11. 771. "In general, the
regular activities of the orgnnizatio~ls\\:ere I~erfb~-mecl
by a small staff of pait1 employees, while the general
meinbersliip made u p tlie governing boards, dicl .some .
of tlie cot?imittee work, and paid expenses" [Yellowitz
1965, p. 771: Finally, ". . . most of the rcform orgnnizations depended upon a small group of wealthy pntri, cians, professional
m e n , and social \vorkers for their
financial support and leaclersliip. \\7ealtliy women,
including some from New York City society, were
indispensable to the financing and st'fing of tlie Consumer's League" [Yelowitz 1965, p. 711.
'

The Trend of ~ o c i dA.looett~entsin An~erica:Professiot~ali;itio,~and Resorrrce A.lolili;ation

Lacking large membership bases, these organizations relied -heavily upon the ~ h e d i ato mobilize sentiment bases in-order to directly and indirectly influence
elite decision makers. As Smith observes, "Tlre basic
method i,tiliz&l by'progressive movement organizations was to pi!blicize investigations ,undertaken by
tliemsel\~esor by governnient agencies. Simply worded
leaflets described in muckraking style the conditions
discovered by these investigations and proposed a
specific liiece of legislation to deal witli the problem.
Extensive use of photograp1is, cartoons, graplis, etc.,
illustrated tlie "Evil" produced by the excesses of the
industrial system" [Smith 1968, 11. 211.
The ferment accompany in^ tlie Depression and New
Deal era also' produced move~nentsat odds with the
classical mold. I-Iuey Long's s h a r e - o u r Wealth Society
'is such an early departure. The funding of the society
came from Long's personal reserves, deriving
ultimately from his Louisiana organizatian. h4embership in local Slinre Our Wealth clubs reqiiired no clues,
ancl at its peak, in 1935, the society claimed a membership of between four and seven million members.
Through national radio broadcasts, again funded by
Long, lie encouraged the formation ofclubs, and a large
national stc& of organizers and office workers was employed to aid this process. The national office of the society
organizational material and propaganda for tlie local clubs. Long made all of,the important
decisions concerning the policies of- the society and
liked to ". . . boast that tlie Share Our \Vealtll clubs
I '
represented a powerful national movement, an active crusading force' that someday would sweep into
control of the government" [Williams 1970, p. 7351.
At about the same time, Father Charles E . Coughlin
founded the National Union for Social Justice. Concerning this organization h!IcCoy says, "It should be
empliasized that instead.of offering encouragement and
'guidance to a spontaneous organization of tlie discontented b j ~the cliscontented, Coughlin offered them a
ready-made orga~iizationand ideology. Throughout the
existence of tlie National Union, any real participation
by tlie membersl~ip in decision-making processes
seemed to be lacking" [McCoy 1958, p. 1191.
hle~nbersliip in these organizations was inclusive
and.implied little niore than support for the founders'
stated aims. Indeed, both organizations were
developed to de~nohstratethat widespread support
existed. Since membership implied neither activity nor
much in the way of financial support; the membership
could' not have been expected to liavc a serious voice
in policy formation of the organizations.
An excellent modeni example of the phenomenon
outlined above is The Citizen's Board of Inquiry into
Hunger and bIalnutrition in the United States [Brown

19701. Tlie Citizen's Board was originally organized by

the Citizen's Crusade Against Poverty, an anti-poverty
organization drawing its financial support from a
private foundation. The-Citizen's Board drew upon a
liiglily trained professio~ial st'& who employed tlie
media effectively as a rallying device against hunger.
The potential mass base of hungry Americans were
never involved in this movement. Hungry Americans
did not provide the resources employed by this organization. Financial support for the organization \vas
. . drawn from the "Citizen's Crusade Against Poverty,
the United Auto Workers, and six foundations" [Brown
1970, p. 1191. The media cooperated by giving broad
coverage to tlie Board's activities and the final report
issued by the Board. The medin also produced a television docu~nentarydealing with the issue raised by .the
Board (CBS, "Hunger in America"). We do not imply
that tlie.Board ~ n i s r e ~ ~ r e s e n the
t e d needs or desires of'
hi!ngry Americans or that hungry Americans would
not have become involved in such a movement if they
had been given a chance o r were neecled to effkct policy. The point is tliat tlie organizatic!i fi~nctionedwitliout mass invol'vement.
A somewhat different example of a professional social
movement is the National.Counci1 of Senior Citizens
for Health Care through Social Security '(NCSC). It
was possibly more typical of profkssional social inovements in that it arranged to appear as a clnssical ~ilovement, inclusive type,, while it was clearly profe2sional
.in its operating orientation. Its ~najorsource of funding
\\.as the *FL-CIO [Rose 1.967, p. 4231. The professional
staff of the organization co~iducteclrallies aro~uiclthe
country in support of health care for the elderly ancl
encouraged mass petitibning. Such funding also
allowed professional expertise to be ~nacleaviiilable to
smaller groul~s,which were encouraged and aided. in
liolcling hearings in support of health care for the aged.
The staff also wrote press releases that were ~~secl~across
tlie country by constituent groups, and the media
responded by publicizing the organization. ". . . By
the close of 1961 [NCSC] claimed a membership of
400,000 elderly persons and 900,000.supporting members of all ages" [Rose 1967, p: 4331.
The example of tlie NC.SC deviates fi-om.our cliaracteristics of a pure professional social movement in that
it possessed a large meml~ershipbase. Tliat membe'rship base, however1 \\.as created afier. tlie fact. If
the Citizen's Board of Incluiry into I-lunger and hlalnutrition in tlie United States hat1 desired to develop a
loosely organized memhersliip in tliis fiuliion, we suspect tliat it could have. Tlie decision by a professional
staff to devote resources to tliis method of image manipulation will vary from situation to situation. The
NCSC was
in this direction by the contention

of the American h,letlicnl Association that the aged <lid

not lack ~nedicalcare and that existing h'ealth insurance
scllemes adecluately met tlie needs of tlie elclerly [Hose
19671.
A more recent esiuiiple of a professional social movement is "Commoli Cause;" headed Ily John W.
Gnrclner, 'fhrmer Secretary of Health, Education, and
M'elfal-e. This organization has assemldetl a professional .staff of about 30 ;111cl h;ls ". . . managed to build
n respectable fin~ncialInse of about $1.75 million with
$15 in dues ti-o~!ieach of its melnl~ers,plus seed money
from s ~ ~ ccontri1)iltors
li
as John D. Rockefeller, 3rd.,
tlie Ford Aslotor Company, and Time, Inc." [Halloran
19711. The organization claims a m e m b e ~ ~ s l iof
i~~
108,000 citizens. Observation of the scale of tlie aclvertising and mailingcampaigns lat~ncliedlly the organization suggests thkit a major financial. investment \\.as
required to enlist tlie meml)ership, and the Ne\v York
Times reported initial funding of $250,000 fi-om a group
of wealthy Ilackers [i-Ialloran 19711.
Several points are tvorth noting about Cornmon
Cause. First, many of the staff members -have been
involved. in other professional movement organizations. Intleed, the resident antl chief execrltive otficerof Commo~iCar~sein 1971,'Jack Conway, was involved
in tlie .Iiilngel; campaign discussed allove .tIir(jr~ghhis
i~l\lolveme~it
in tlie Cllild Development Group of hlisi
sissippi. Conwuy lintl also been employed hy the AFLCIO i l l a political action role. Second, meml~ersofthe
organization have no serious role in 0;-gitnizational policy making short of withholding meml,ership dues!'The
lwofessiol~nlstaff' largely determine the positions that
tlie organization. takes upon issues. In genefal, tlie
membership- seems to relate to tlie organization.
thror~ghthe mails and tlie media, tlioi~glithe
staff attempts to activate the membership for pressure.
making
campaigns upon decision makers-thereby
membership constitute something more tlian n financial dontriblltion. Fitrthe,rmore, Common Cause
develops other groups and lielps start pilot projects
in various states. By 1972 Common Cause had
devkloPed a variety of mechanisms for. building local
groups.
Let us conclude our discussion of modern professional social movement oiganizations with a brief look
at the highly publicized set of organizations developed
.by Mr. HalpIi ~ a d e r ~IiougIl
.
this set of organizations
ha$ been continrt;lll!; espant!ing, in 1971 three organizations re,)resentecl
the core of ktr. ~ ~ dacti\,ities:
~ r '
the Center for tlie Sttldy of Responsive Law, the Public
Interest Research Croup, and the Center for Auto
safety.- \,jrl,ile tiie tilree organizations have.continlke~~
to operate, specific issue g r o w s ha\,e.been formed for
short periods of time. Issue groups, nor~nallytermed
,

"Raiders" by the press, \r:o;-k closely \\,it11 the ~ e ; l t e r

for the Study of Respor!sive Law, \vliicli sponsors the,
reports of their inclr~iries[hlcCarl-y 19721.
The source of frlncls for tlie various activities of these
organizations varies from tlie proceecls of puhlishecl
reports, Nader's speaking tkes, antl foundation and
privrite donations. In 1970, for instance,. the h'lidas
1ntern:ttional Fol~nclationgave Natler's various projects
$100,000 of tlie more tliaii one-hqlf million.dollars contril~utedby foundations and private clonors [klcCnrty
19721. I n 1971, Puldic Citizen, Inc. was developed to
solicit slnall do~lationsfro111 a I~roaclerbase tllrough
mailed requests for funcls. "From June. . throi~gh
October 1971, Public Citizen collected $100,000"
[h,lcCarry 1972, 1). 2101. Tlie Center for Auto Safety
.
in 1971. received two thirds of its hltlds li.om Consumers Union and Public Citizen, Inc. [ ~ a r s l i a l l
19711.
This complex of organizations illustrates very clearly
tlie staffing trends \ i ~ ehave outlined above. Reli;uice
upon both filll-time profe,ssiorlal statl'nntl el~isotlicstu'dent volunteer m:mpo\ver is tlie mode. The core
organizatiot;~tlepend primarily upon fdll-time profes\v;lges--a lawyer
sionals who are paid at s~~l,sistence
for the ~lli,licInterest Research Groitl,, fbr illstance,
receives $4,500 a year. X.lemhers of' the fill]-time staft'
org~unizethe use of stlmmer strident vol~~nteers.
Each orguiization clailns to represent ant1 fight for
iui t~norganizeclconstitt~ency.It is only tliro~.~gh
l-'~~l)lic
Citizen, Inc., tllougli, tli;~tany direct s ~ ~ [ ~ l )tie%
ort
such a purported constitrtency has been a t t e ~ n ~ ~ t e t l .
13eyontl Pul)lic Citizen, Inc., .none of the orgiulizations
are in iuiy sense 'meml~ershiporganizations. Profes-.
sional competence rather than broad citizen action
characterizes these orgaliizations,'\vitln a heavy use of
.
the media as a critici~l component of utilizing this'
competence as a lever for social change.
It is not that 111-ofessiolial mo\'ement organizations
in - klacliiavellian fishion manriE~cture pseuiloproblems, though this remains a possil~ility.There are
always grievances at large among the citizeny. But
for many such grievances tlie inclividtlal re\\~irclsfbr
organizing to solve indiviclual I)roble~iis,if in fact they
are sol!tble, ;we likely to I x less than tlie energy ant1
resource e~~enc1itui.e
r e ~ ~ i ~ i rIfe dveliicles
. ~ ~ are pro'

'

14. See Xlal~curOlsc~i,J r . [19651 1i)r ;In ;iti;llysis tli;lt

sl,hq)ly c~lnllenges the ; I S S ~ I I I I ~ ol.intcrest
, ~ ~ ~ ~ S
gro1111tlleol~ists
that pcol)lc will tlevotc time, Iliolley, ;untl ellcBrgyt o collccti\,c

muses
that .promise ollly sni;ill person;il re\v;irtls. (.)lscn
~
\votlld nrple tliut intlivitlr~;~ls
are mow likely to I)c ':lix:e ritl.,, tllese cnllses.our;In;llysis, I ~ ~ ) \ s,ll,stilnti;llly
, . ~ ~ ~ ~ .
deflects the irt~/~ot-trrr~cc
of' Olsen's ; I ~ ~ I I I : I ~ sitl~~..
I I ~ ~
;is
.Ilave ;1rg11ec1, inclivitlll;~l citizeti ~>;lrtici~~;ltio~~
nl;ly he
uniinlx)rt;int to ~novcnlelltvitality. \\'c ;icccl,t tilt* v;llitlity
o f ~ l s e n , s an;llysis, ~ , its~ celltl.;ll
t
ill,l,;,rtance
rests
its
pessimistic c~nclusiol~s
al~ol~t
the ~n,ssiI>ilityol' org;lliizetl

.,.,.-

\titled, however, for attacking such grie\~nncesimd participation is essentially costless, mit~imallevels of citizen participation are- an increased likeliliootl. Professional social.movement organizations can l)!.ovitfe sr~ch
vehicles. (Intleed, professional movements might p m ~ ,
tneml~ersto participate in the name of citizeti identificatii~n,~nuclias War on Poverty groups 1);lid the poor
to ;.elwesent the poor.) These orgiunizations do not
necessarily mn~irtfactrlregrievances-they do make it
tiiore likely that such grievances will receive n pu1)lic
henring ancl policy action. Even minimal levels of citizcn participation are tlispensable, though, as professional 'move~iient organizations may be etfective in
their al~sence.
The process of tlie defil~itionof strain and grievance
is altered I)y the advent of professional ~novenient
organizations and the conditions that favor their.bi~ih.
\Ve srrggcst t l ~ n the
t rlefir~itioi~
of grieonnces icjill espcrlld
to ~neettlte firrl(ls (1t1cl .srr])])or-t])er.soi~nclc~rjc~il(rl~le,
and
tlie criterion for the existence of such personnel may
I)e a foilndntion's willingness to I~elievea professional
entrelweneur's ch;~racterization,rather than the perception of strain in the minds of tlie potential constituency. If large amounts of filncls are, a\~nilal)le,then,
problem definition becomes a strategy for co~npeting
for them, and we would expect more +id more sopliisticilterl kittempts at prol>letn clefinition. Those intelengage in such probleln definition will
lectuals
not normally have been su1)ject to the ocliorts conditions they seek to allay, and tlieir definitions will
depetld upon tlisparities behveen get~eralval11e cornmitments ant1 the realities of social organization. Many
li
as well, will
of the sr~pportersof s ~ ~ corganizations,
base their support upon such disparities rather than
i~ponpersonal experience.
Government agencies,. as well, are Inany times
involved in tlie early stages of grievance rnanuf:~cture.
Agency involvement is not always reaction to issues
defined by external groups. 1ss;ling reports ancl calling
~ i ~ b lattention
ic
to l~;oblems may selve to build a favor~ 7 1 1 0

able envirot~mentfor the development of social'.movernent organizations aror~nclan issue. The f;~cilitationof
apparent grass-roots concern, of collrse, is ample evidence t11;tt agency appropriations be increased to attack
the problem at hnntl. The recent attempts of the
Departmet~t of I-lealth, Ec!t~cation, and \\'elfire to
increase the ~.epre.sentationof I'em:lle fhc~lltyin American universities i1lustr;ite this pattern. This iiction has
encoru-aged campus kminist gro!tl,s to organize and
i ~ gagency's case that grievpress for change s r ~ l ~ p o r t ithe
ances requiring affimntive action exist.
Finally, we may carry our argument even filrther
away from tlie clnssicnl model by positing the distinct
social
possibility of the develqpment of ~~rofessional
~novement organizations that creite ratllet: than
mol~ilizegrievances. l5 '\,\'c h:lve n s s ~ ~ ~ nto
e t this
l
point
that movement orgiu~izationsengineer the appearance
of griev;uices in good f;lith. But, it is entirely likely
that the creation of the nppeariuice of grievances by
si~cli;in orga~iiz;itiotiwill I ~ c a rno relation.ship to ally
preexisting grievance structul-k. In such an event
movement entl-eprenettrs can he thnught of as representing no one but themselves in sitLh p u r s ~ ~ iut sn l e s ~
their efforts lead to the develollment of nctrtal feelings
.of grievance among a target pol)illntion. Sl~ccess,insuch
manufacture will Ile seen as I~~atlel.ship,
\vl~ileIi~ilure
will be seen as lii~cksteris~ii.
In any qisc, nlovement
origins will occur o~ltsicleof tlie ni;Iss.
Stnbility cri~dCl~crilgeill t l ~ eNew Corcers crrzd"'
Or-gcrtiiacrtions
Earlier we argrtccl tli:~t there has 11ce11;I ~nnrketl
increase in the n11ml)er o't'career positio~lsin ot-ganizn-.
tions related to social movements. People commit tlieir
lives to working in organizations I-e1;ited to their
change-oriented vali~es.These c;veers are contingent
,upon organizational opporti~nitiesand upon the survival of the social movement intlust~?.and' of pnrticular
movement orgatioris. The nest part examines the ways
in which tlie infra-structure processes we have discussed shape tlie overall size and direction oftlie industry.
Here, however, we need to ask how particular,professional movement organizations nndfi~ll-time social
~novernentcareers are affected by tlie vicissitudes of
tlieir relationships to. meclia, to fttt~tlingsources. and to
meml~ersliipand I)ct~eficinryIx~scs.

action to rectify citizen grie\,ances. F~~rthermore,

outside
fi~nclingnllo\vs tlie possibility of easily oH'ering nlhat 0lse11
terms by-protlr~cts'for citizen invol\~elnentin movement
org;lnizations: I>!-procli~cts cor~lclI x lo\\,-cost lo;ltis, aid in
gninitig.well;~rc1)encfits. tr;~nsport;~tion
to agencies, or e\'en
outright payrne~~t
k)r meml~ership.Sqe Leltes ;~ncl.\\'elf
[1970] for an ;malysis p;~rallclto ours that stresses the clisl,ens;ll)ility of citizen p;trticip;ition givcti orltside resource slipl ~ l yin the contest of gi~erill~~
wnrfitre.
Social ~novcnicntorganiz;~tio~is
\ \ r i l l I ~ r n l ) a l ~ lfeel
y callecl
The New Careers
I
to conce;d tlieir material r o c l ~ i the
t
~iiocil
rhetoric ofsocial movements is tarnislie b! mAng self-interh,Iitlisters, community org:unizers, I ~ ~ l l d rel;~tions
ic
est an explicit rationale for memhersliip. This is, in. fact.
directors, membership and develdptnent specialists,
one important clinhrence I ~ t w e e n"interest
and
"pmfessional social ~iiovements."See E,clelm;m
h r an
15. \ire ;ire indel~teclto XIr. C;II-\.Long li~r1)ringing tl~is
;uinlysis of the cliflerences in rhetoric of social rn~\~ernents
implication ol'our arg~~nicnts
to o11r attention.
and nnrmw, self-regarcling interest groups.

fS:?;

John D. I\.lc Carthy -1jIayer N. Znlrl

la\\:yers, doctors, and engineers are some of the occua traditional career setting, even though it builds upon
pations from \vliicli the professional movement organitlie expertise lie has acqui;ed. The overall direction
zation attracts its cnclres. Tiley are distingt~ishedfrom . and rate of flow between traditional ii~icluntraditional
their colleagues in these professions largely by tlieir
settings depends. upon tlie overall groivth of traditional
versirs new careers.
rejection of traditional institutional roles, careers, and
reward strlrctures. One consequence, we suspect, is
Several recent developments support a view.of tlie
a lower conimitment to professionalism per se. That
rationalization of social movernent organization
is, they define their opportunities less in terms of the.. careers. Tlie first is the I~eginningofroutinized training
for such positions in the form of training institutes for
use of professional skills arid more in terms of social
social movement personnel. The most ilotable examchange ol~jectives.Of course, traditional l>rofessionals
are not strictly. tied to professiotlal settings for tl!eir
ples of such institutes are those sponsored b y the
Industrial Areas Foundation, the Citizens College
careers. For instance, l a ~ w e r soften take jobs as business executives or in governmelit agencies,' and
Organizing Comnlittee, and tlie ,Southen1 Christian
engineers become aclministrators. But most professionLeadership Conference. Tlie second is tlie growth of
als commit tlie~nselvesto professionally related seta'literature that attempts to systematize the kno\vledge
tings.
.
recluired for success at sllcll activity. Some recent
If professional ~novernentorkanizations exhibit staexamples of the growth of tliis literature are klicliael
bility ant1 elongafecl hierarchical organization, careers
\Yalzer's Polificnl Action:
Prclctical Gtrirle to Mouein movement organizations niay come to resemble
inent Po/itic.s [1971], Si Knhn's llotc; Pcol~leGct Poroerthose in other professional settings,' but one of tlie
[1970], Sa~rlAlinsky's Rrrles.fot- Rndic(r1.s [1971], Lakey
characteristics of tliese organizations is that'their fundand Oppenliein~er's~\lrr~irrnl
for Direct A c t i o ~[1965],
~
ing is unstaljle. As there is an e b b and flo\\l of foundaand The Orgai~izer'.~
~\Iarlrrcll[O. h4. Collective 19711.
tion support, as itidividual contril~utorschange inter.Tlioirgh tliese manuals in general tbcrrs upon what
ests, and as society passes on to new issires, .sectors
is termed '"grass-roots", organizing il la classical
of movement srlpport are likely to dry up and new
model, several of them advise how the potential
ones expand. A likely consecluence is that personnel
organizer goes about exploiting tlie infra-structore of
will switch from organ'ization to organization and move
social movement organization srrppurt we llave or~tamong locales. As personnel shift from organization to
lined. For instance, Tire Ut-g(~tlizer.s'L\~,II~II((/
esplains
organization, a iiationnl nehvork of personnel relations
in detail how to apply for folrndation grants. Presrr~iiclevelol>s.Some movement organizations m.1. routinize
ably, tlie next step in the process is tlie fotr~lrlin~"of
their firnding sources, however, as cotnmunity conasena social movement organizers' association and the.
sus develops around their goals. The Planned Parentinstitution of formal creclentialing procedures.
hood Association exhibits this pattern where in many
locales it has come to be funded by the United Givers
Prorluct Ditiersificatiott Change, in lllotiement
Fund.
. Orgctnizntions
Also, many of these movement organizatio~iswill
One line of analysis of.classical movement organizaihtersect with traditional institutions that
tions suggests tliat they have a strong tendency to perhave some relation to particular issire sectors. Just as
petuate tliemsel\les and to develop oligarchic and
go behveen the Defense Department and
bureaucratic features. 111doing so they moderate their
the defense industries, so we [nay expect movement
goals and institutionalize careers. Zald and Ash [1966]
personnel to flow Imck arid forth among movement
argue tliat tliis tendency is dependent upon a routinizaorganizations, foundation's, and the government
tion of resource flow. Many movement organizations
agencies and professional schools tliat maintain a tie
will fi~ilor shrivel if they callnot define a relatio~islii~~
to the policy issue at st'ake. Lawyers fiow in and out
to a sul~portbase. Some of tlie movement organizations
of law schools and government. A community organizer
that we are discussing easily transform themselves into
is attached to a metropolitail housing authority one year
service institutions. A poverty law firm routinizes'its
and to a neighborliood action group tlie next. A state.
relationship with the goveni~nent,and as long as it
health department loses a ~nigclle-levelbureaucrat to
does not transgress political bo!mdaries, its chances of
a health action co~rncil,and the 1iealth.action council.
survival are increased. Obviously, shifts in political
loses an executive to a comprehensive health center.
goals.
control can lead away from m o v e t n e ~ ~
A "guerilla administrator" with the Department of
-t
Other movement organiz7tions are more clearly
Housing and Urban Development takes a jo,b with a
Fair Housing organiza-tion, and so.o~i..For some of the . focused upon l>olicychanges, upon political action that
is more dimci~ltto transform into services. IVIiat hapmovement professionals, one of the.steps leads into
'

'

'

'

'

'

'

citizens. Nor do we believe tliat the increasing numl~er

of social Lrrangements clefinecl as problematic reflects
ail increase in "objective" problem incide~ice.Besitles,
it is problem pe~reption,not 01)jective l)rol~lemincidence,' that is relevan't to our argr~meritsliere. hlnn
may or may not be closer to doom toclay than at tlie
time of tlie Black Plague. For our purposes wliat is
important isliow a society channels and perceives 'tlie
"ol~jectiveproblem" [Blumer 19711.
.How permanent are the trends we liave described?
If increases in tlie size of the mitlclle class liave produced the so-'called revolution, then it ought to be
rather permanent. Indeed, we wot~ldexpect more of
tlie same as tlie middle class grows in size, both relaIf an increase in 'tlie objective
tively and absol~~tely.
incidence of prolde~nshas psoc1uced it, the satiation
element of tlie cl:~ssicnl model explaining tlie rise and
direct us to base pretlicfall of social movements \i~or~lcl
tions. of permanence, short of actual revolution, upon
the willingness and a1)ility of tlie political elite to cleal
with the problems. The political-elite, those in positions to act upon grievances and change social policies,
are, in tlie classical model, the g;itekeepers of social
movements; they eitlier respol;cl or fail to respond to
cle~nancls,and in so doing membership motivations are
On tlie other I~iuid,if tlie
eitlier satisfied or fr~~stratecl.
apparent revoli~tionis the result of the trends outlinecl
above, an analysis of tlie permanence of thc.se trends
permits an assessment of the permanence o'f this
>.'
revolution and its ideological directions.

pel!s to tliem?'Neeclless to say, tlie less the movenient

organization is tied to enduring cleavages or issues,
tlie less likely it is to su~-vi\le.It is liarcl. to imagine
i~iclusiveorganizations like the ACLU or the NAACP
going out of l~usi~;ess,
because they relate to enduring
issues. The NAACP relates to a basic. racial-status
cleavage in the'society, while the ACLU relates, to an
al~stractvalue tliat can never be fillly attained. Both
may have to shift programs to- ~ i i e e tthe
, competition
for their support base provided by other movement
organizations, but they can do so merely by shifting
program definitio'ns and personnel; On tlie other hand,
narrowly defined organizations such as an organization
for day-care centers or "Citizens for Clean Water" may
find themselves without an issue.
In tliis regard an orgaiiization like Common Cause
,. is especially interesting. It is a "conglomerate" of the
ameliorative social movement in dust^^, for it speaks
for reform in general, allying with many special interest
groups. 0 1 1 tlie one hand, as it loses some supporters
when it takes on issues outside of or opposed to their
interests, it picks up otliers. On t11e other hand, as
a 1)roblem or reform is acliie\led, it switches to a new
issite. Its growtli and sfi~l>ilitydepend upon picking
up a new
line for social action. Its diversity
of change goals also protects it against tlie f;lcldisliness
of issue definition. As long as the -media focus upon
it and foundations ant1 individuals contril~i~te
some
resources to it, it is able to maiiitain or protect its less
popular causes. klucli as a conglomerate or di~el-sifiecl
mani~facti~rer,
.as co~nparetlto a single-line prodr~cer,
is better able to invest in a I)rodt~cttliat llas long-range
potential, a diversified social tnovetiient organization
can invest in l)ri)jects that liave long-range change
potential, 'even though current definitions of the
important issue would- not lead it to invest in them.

Social Cot~trolnnd Sociul Mo~;ementAnalysis

~ociol6gicillatialysis of social movement orgiunizations has focused primarily rlpon'tlie internal dynamics
of specific organizations. Even attempts to focus upon
tlie relationship between such organizations ancl tlie
broader environment liave tendecl to ignore tlie social
Professional social Movements in Modern
control attempts of authorities directed to\v;trd moveAmerica: Does the Piper Call the Tune?
ments ant1 organizations. l6 We too are infli~encedby
tliis'tradition. \.Vhile we have focused upon tecliniques
A fundamental co~;clusionof tlie analysis is tliat we
by which professional social movement organizations
liave recently witnessecl a major increase in l>rofesy, can influence elites :und upon the internal dynamics
sional social movement activity and that tliis
of such movements, we ha\le paid little attention to
l h e n o ~ n e n o nhas been-interpreted by many as a partlie other side of the coin-the
processes by which
elites, in and out of government, attempt to exercise
ticipatory revolution. This so-called revolution is, we
social control over professional social niovenient
believe, the result of several secular trends-in fundorganizations. Si~cli1)roccsses are no t l o ~ ~ operative
bt
ing, tlirougli fotuitlations and personal income, the
with what we have termed clissical social.mo\~ement
increased importance of television and other communiorganizations. However, the potentialities of control
cation devices, in discretionary time, .and in career
by elites are Iiighliglited by a focr~supon professional
alternatives. \Ve are not convinced tliat tlie increased
size ,of the ~niddleclass in modern America has produce.cl dramatic increases in the time and energy
16. Smelser [1963] is a not;~l)leesccption to this general.
ization. See also Gamson [1966].
devoted to social movement organizations by private
'

'

25

Professiotlnliz~ntionatlcl Rcsorirce tifobilizntion

~ i i e n thas by no means, Iio\vever, cut back all sucli
lxograms. Tlie funding 11y churches and founclations
is also vulnera1)le in that rules governing fi~nclingby
such age;icies call. be changed. Incleed, legislative
action has I ~ e e ninterl)retecl by some foundations as
having already mo\.ed towal-d restriction rlpon grants
[see Goitlclen 197'11. Further, fou~ldation boards of
directors and clir~rchconstitue~lciescoultl press for an
e!id to sucli funding. \Ye believe that tlie trends in
funding for sucli activity could 11e reversed ye1-y rapidly
by arleterrninerl federal admiiiistfation. But such deterrecluire all attack upon tax laws and
mination \vo~~lcl
tlie institutional independence of the clir~rchesancl
foundations beyond infornial pressure. This would
require a major confi-ontation a ~ l d , in our view, is
highly unlikely.
Tlie media's willingness to tlxcle in citizen grievances
ant1 hence aicl
sociill movements in their
xtivities is also vulneral~le,given fktlernl control over
television broadcasting. Tlie reality of tliis. control
makes tlie possibility of threat and innuendo by
administration figures a real force. It is obvious horn
the Russian example that an industrial society can systematically control the clissemination of infbrma t'~ o n
and Iience grievance acc'~~rnulation.
Similarly co~npeting for mass audiences seems to lead tlie media away
from serious issues that lia\,e low ct~rrentinterest. Rut
it is unlikely, sliort of a fl~scistregime in A~nerica,that
a11 of the grievances lx)rtr;i!:ecI I,y tlie media cor~lclbe
sr~~)~~ressecl.
Se\;eral of the trends \ire have cliscr~ssed;hoivever,
are not as v u l ~ ~ e r a l ~tol eshort-run action on tlie part
of a political elite com~liittedto tlecreases in movement
activity. These factors tend to he related to the general
level of ~x-oqjerityin tlie society. Though they should
I)e sensiti\le to economic recessions, mnilecl donations
to movement organizations are l~robnblylikely to continue.
Tlie al~ilityof youtll with intense v:llt~ecommitments
to survive on s~11)sistenceincomes prol)nl~lymeans contini~ecl I~eriodsof involvement in social movement
activity for many members of this group [see Kenniston
19681. I-lowever as the relative ~~roportion
of yot~th
clecrenses, as it is likely to in tlie future, this source
of eneygy and invol\~emel;tshoultl also tent1 to decrease
e.
a pel-iocl of intense involvein i m ~ o ~ t a n c Wlietlier
ment during yor~tliiml)lies th:~t individuals will con, . tinue heavy outlays of enerLy and resources in later
life to movement activity seems an.open question to
l8 There
us, .unless fr~ndingalloivs career invol\~ement.
18. See Greene [19701$r a discr~ssionof \\.itlitlrn\\.alfrom
action by Inany le;~dersol the Berkeley Frcc Sl)cerh \love-

nient following tlie taking on of fa~hily;111tl job reslwnsihilitieh.

is no doubt that we ha\e seen increased involvement

during youth.
\Vhetlier tlie intense'\:alt~ecommit~nentsleat1in.g to
h , cannot
action \viil continue to cIial.ncterize y o ~ ~ t we
sa!? Introspection does appear to be a serious competitor to action. Indeed, a clear result of tlie trir~mpli
of Charles Reich's "Consciousness 111" [Reich 19701
w o ~ ~ be
l d a withdm\val from movemcnt activity of tlie
sort we have focus.ed upon. \VhetIier self-examination
can liavestructural consequences is beyond the scope
of our remarks here. Social movement a~ialysisis not
very instructive 011 tliis point. I t does,not
to the
structural solution of alienation, anomie, and breastbeating in general.
\Ye are led t o conclude that solne portion of the
increase in professional social movement ;lctivity could.
quite rapiclly b e re\,ersetl if the political elite were
determinecl to bring allout s11c1i.ac!hange. On tlie other
li;und, if prosperity continr~es,tliere are several fiictors
that would lead an o b s c ~ ~ to
~ eexpect
r
a proportion of
tlie increase in such activity to remain. I-Iiglier and
higher standards of living, throt~glithese fictors, \irould
lead to an expectation of f i ~ t r ~ ri~rfreases
e
in spite of
the actions of political elites directecl specifically at
movement activity. \Vhe~:ethe classicil model of social
mo~iementspredicts less activity in prosperous times,
our analysis predicts just the reverse.
If one accepts our anillysis of tlre tlevelopmcnt of
a massive social movement inr111st1-y in modern
America, then it follo\vs that the int111st1-ywill~actas
source
l
of llressllre in bellalf of its own lines
a powe~fi~
o f s u p p o ~ ~Representatives
t.
of this i n d ~ ~ s t nncl
r y its supporting institutions \\rill 11e likely to resist pressi~?es
to cut OR resource flows and even attempt to expand
tllkm. In tliis regard tlie I-Iouse Ways ancl Means Committee' held hearings in May of 1972 to consider
Rcgr~lntions"
changes in tlie Internal Hevenr~e'Se~.vice
. . . controlling the tax -exempt status 01' nonprofit
organizations \\rliich attempt to influence legislation"
(hrcr.shl;illcTe~ittessctri~
1972, 11. 8). D ~ ~ r i ntlicse
g
heari l Clrurches arguecl very
ings the National C o ~ ~ n cof
strongly fbr liberalization of regt~lationsas they idrect
the activities of church groups. If such a change were
to occur, \ile \vould expect' more resoi~rcesto.l)erame
. available to professional social ~no\;ement organizations. .
.Finally, the ability of specific professional social
movement organizations to convert to classical. social
movement organizations tllrougli time \vould serionsly
clt~alifytlie effects of elite withdrawal. '9 If there is a
high likelihood of such an occurrence-by telescol>ing

'

'

19. Cf. SDS, \\~liicli.\KIS origin;illy spoilsorcd I>? n t l ~ l l t

I;~l)orr;~dicnls(Ixngue for I~itlustri;~l
Dc~liocr+-y)
I J I I ~ I)roke
a\rray fro111the~ii.

membership in the counter-culti~rewill Ile likely to'

the early organiiational and interest articulation
.
conti~iueto lead to some form of social movement
.
phases-then the short-run effects of elite withdrawal
from the suppo~-tof movement activity \voulcl be
activity-\vhether
of a retreatist, reformist, 01. revoI>luntecl. That is, the ~yitliclrawnlof fountlation and
lutionaly type.
institutional supl)ort would h,ave little eftkct. 01iIy lonOn the other hand, the dominant culture may react
gituclinal case studies of professional social movements . by partial inco~poration,tiiking over- some of the vnlr~es
could suggest t h e likelihood of such occurrences and
and beha\~iorof the counter-cr~lture.The I-clasntion of
hence the importance of tliis dimension to an overtime
m'arijuan,? Ia\irs, sympathetic pglice officers, and tlie
prediction of tlie general societal level of movement
relaxation of dress.and hair codes in many instittttional
'activity. \Ve tend to believe. that movement organizasettings nay all .contribute to a deemphasis of tlie .
tions based upon deep' interest cleavages are more
ci~lt~~relcounter-culture
cleavage. Insofar as the cleavlikely to be able to utilize elite support for tlie construcage -is based upon style nnd belief, then, partial incororganizations
tion of viable, classical social ~?iove~nent
poration ii likely to moderate the effects of the cleav-.
tllan are ~nulti-interestand soluble issue movement
age. Such an arguinent leads. us to doubt that this
organizations. A professior~ilmovemerit organization
cleavage will persist.
can become a classical social movement organization
There is also tlie fact tliat the "counter-culture" is
11y attaching itself to .a major social cleavage ,and
I~asedon a transient role, that of young persons, \vhere
cleveloping a unified ~nembersliipsupport.bas&.If this
as tlie civil rights/black powef ancl Ial~ormovements
is so, the extent to which movement organizations are
are based 011relatively permanent roles. A brief liiatt~s
I)nsecl on sucli el'eavages will determine the elite's a!>i.l-- in civil riglits activity still' leaves lots of experienced
ity to throttle movement'activity.
black organizers around to socialize, ne\vcomers. An
One cli~estion. mentioned al~ove demands fr~ller interruption in a "youth-moveme~it"ca11,leadto n situai
attention as we attempt to predict tlie fiiture of social
tion in which 'later cohorts may esperience tlie same
movements in modem America: What is the re1a t'lonprol+ernS -as earlier ones, but lack role motlels and
ship bet\veen ~onsbiousness'111, the value counterinterlxetersof their esperience. There is an alxence
cr~ltr~re,
and the fi~tureof social movements? Our
of. mdcement "'tradition" in the counter-cultr~re-no
analysis has focused upon tlie infra-structu~-eof costs
one thinks of himself as an estension of the Beat Genand organizational facilitation cl'eatecl .I>y-some of tlie
eration or sees rock as erlrlivalent to jazz in ternis of
secular trends of affluence. We have igiioretl, or
social position. Non-student pacifists nncl I,llicks, liowI .'
treated only in passing, tlie. values and attitucles ,that. ever, have a relatively strong sense of a movenent
motivate individual social movement participation':
past.
0;1r references to the 'enduring potential of the civil
rights movement were based upon a perception of liow
Conclusion
the racial cleavage
- and value c!isl,arities I>ased upon
that cleavage create an enduring I~asefor a social~moveOur analysis has stressecI two sr~I>jects:
sdcuIar.trends
ment. Is there il similar potential to s e y e as an endr~r- in ~ n o d e n isociety affecti~igsocial movcmc~itsancl tlie
ing Inse for sociiil movements in-the cult~~relcounter-. theoretical analysis. of social moveme~~ts.
Possil~lythe
ci~lturecleavage? An answer seelns based upon several
~nost,importantpoint tliat needs to lie matle in conclucontingencies.
sion is 'the following: Classic4 analysis has had too
An enduri~igsocial cleavage is based upon cliffermuch in common with "bleeding liealt-lil~eral"
ences in status, position, and belief that are relatively
analysis fbcr~sing upon the life situation of tlie
irreconci~abieby "normhl relations" in the short run.
oppressed. We ~iiakesucli a statement at tlie risk of
being thought cynical Inen witlioi~tsympathy for tlie,
(The silort run is defined in terms of tlie time perspective of those wlio are tryi~igto change statt~s,position,
r e the risk of .
oppressed. But a vision of tlie f i ~ t i ~ runs
and beliefclifferentiiils.) To tl!e extent that the counterremaining just a vision if it does not confront the
culture leads its members to encounter the larger c'ulsources and weaknesses of move~nentactivity ai~nccl
t r ~ r eas an enemy, tlie counter-culture can be seen as
at bringing it about. Social analysis 111rtstconfront tlie
infra-structure of social niove~nentfr~ncling,supl~lyand'
self-reinforcing' of an important cleavage and specific
issues based upon it. .As long as contacts with the
demand of labor, the media, and. tlie interaction of
police; schools, families, and work institutions maintain
~ n o v e ~ n e nand'elites
ts
before it'can be of much utility
a negative quality, reinforcing the distinction, then
in. tlie grievance proceedings of modern society.

. '

",

'

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,

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